The Story of a Thief
by Sparks
Summary: Sabé would never have known what would result from the day she decided to give herself in to the authorities. But her destiny seemed inescapably entwined with the new queen’s, and as their friendship grew, so did their loyalty.
1. The Story of a Thief - part 1

Author's Notes: Sabé would never have known what would result from the day she decided to give herself in to the authorities Chrissie Bligh Normal Chrissie Bligh 2 0 2001-11-02T14:44:00Z 2001-11-02T14:44:00Z 8 2531 14429 HP 120 28 17719 9.2720 

Author's Notes: Sabé would never have known what would result from the day she decided to give herself in to the authorities.  But her destiny seemed inescapably entwined with the new queen's, and as their friendship grew, so did their loyalty.  In the days to come, that loyalty and friendship would be all that would keep them alive.  Four people, all with complicated relationships.  Four people, all brought together under the most unusual and discouraging circumstances.  Four people whose destinies could not be separated.  

Disclaimer: I claim anything you don't know, which includes backgrounds, people, places, and most importantly the plot.  Everything else belongs to George Lucas, etc.

Dedication: To Sarah, for having faith in me, and to Lauren, who wouldn't let me give up.

********************************************************************************************

It was three days after Queen Amidala had been crowned.  The whole planet was still in a state of celebration.  In Theed Palace, dressmakers fluttered around the new queen, who bore their chatter with patience.  In the Palace Armoury, four girls were having their introduction to blaster pistols.

Captain Panaka handed each girl a blaster, and watched with amusement as they hefted the weight of it, finding the most comfortable position for it in their hands.  One girl, Yané, held the gun as if she never had before, and another of the girls, Saché, showed her how to hold it in a firm grip.  The oldest of the new handmaidens, Eirtaé, aimed the blaster at the target, testing its aim, then put it to her side.

"It's a good blaster," Rabé commented thoughtfully.  She hefted its weight.  "Is it a good aim?" she asked Panaka.  

"Fair," he acknowledged.  "Hopefully you won't actually have to use it, but we have to be prepared."  There was a noise from the upper levels of the Armoury, and he glanced up to see nothing.  Saché, who'd also looked up, shrugged slightly, but seemed to pay no attention to it otherwise.

As one of the other guards showed the handmaidens how to aim and shoot, and as they practised, Panaka sat down and regarded the four girls thoughtfully.  Although they were all fast learners, and all utterly loyal to the new queen, for the protection scheme he had thought up none of them would really do.

He'd had the idea that if the queen was ever in danger, one of the handmaidens would stand in for her whilst Amidala posed as a handmaiden.  Although they didn't know it, all the handmaidens had been chosen partly for their resemblance to Amidala – except Eirtaé of course, who had ranked top in her self-defence and martial arts class.

But none of them was really close enough in appearance to Amidala to make such a scheme possible.  Panaka sighed inaudibly.  He'd have to find another handmaiden from somewhere.

The door opened, and one of his guards came up.  "Sir, he started.  "We've apprehended a thief in the gardens."  He hesitated.  "She didn't have anything on her, but her appearance matches the descriptions we have of Sabé Belacque."

Panaka straightened.  Behind him the sounds stopped; the handmaidens were listening.  Everyone had heard of the Belacque family thieves.  The most famous were Randy, the leader, and his daughter Sabé.  Hardly anyone had seen the thieves since they'd started operating, and they seemed to steal all over Naboo.

"Where is she?" he asked quickly.  The guard motioned for him to follow, and Panaka paused only to tell the handmaidens to come with them.

"A good chance for you to see how we work," he told them.  It took them several minutes to reach the small antechamber here the thief was being held.  When they entered, Eirtaé gasped.

The thief looked almost identical to Amidala.  As they entered, the girl lifted her head and looked at them.  Her eyes blazed, but she didn't say anything.

"This is her?" Panaka asked, shocked.  The guard nodded.  "What's your name?" he asked the girl.  She just stared at him.  He sighed.  "Look, this will be a lot easier on you if you just answer our questions."

"Easier how?" she spat.  "I'll get put in jail quicker?"  Panaka stared.  Even her voice was like Amidala's.

"You might get a shorter sentence," he told her gently.  She laughed.  "Me, get a shorter sentence?" she asked bitterly.  "That's rich."

"How old are you?" he asked suddenly.  She stared at him, but after a moment sullenly replied.  "Sixteen."

"You're still a minor," he muttered.  She nodded.  "So, Sabé Belacque, why did you come here?"

Sabé glanced at the guards and at the four women.  "Why else?" she asked.  "I'm a thief."  Panaka stared at her for a moment longer, then turned to the guards.  "Thank you, I'll take it from here."  The guards nodded and disappeared.

Sabé frowned at that, and struggled with her bonds for a moment.  "You might as well stop doing that, you'll only hurt yourself," Panaka told her, a trifle tiredly.  She looked at him, shrugged, and stopped.

"Captain," Yané spoke up.  "She's almost exactly like -,"

"I know, Yané," Panaka told her.  "I've got an idea."  Yané stared at him, then her gaze slid to the thief.  A slow smile crept across her lips as she realised what the captain was getting at.  Saché looked at her and at Sabé, realised what her friend was thinking, and grinned.

"What?" Sabé demanded.  Panaka walked over to stand next to her.  "Sabé, you have a choice.  You can be arrested and put in jail, probably for a minimum of five years, or you can serve the queen as one of her handmaidens." 

Sabé stared.  Then she laughed.  "Are you kidding?" she managed finally.  "I'm not serving _her.  The family would throw me out if I did."  She paused, thought. "But then again, the family will probably throw me out anyway for getting caught."  _

"So you agree?" Panaka asked.  Sabé tilted her head on one side, looking at him seriously.  "I will, with a few conditions," she told him.  He nodded guardedly.

"I won't tell you anything about my family," she told him.  "I may be thrown out, but I won't help do them in.  And I have to be allowed to see them at some point."

"Fine," Panaka allowed.  "Now a few of my own conditions.  You are not to continue being a thief.  You are not allowed to help any members of your family steal.  If you agree to these conditions, you'll be put on trial to see how well you fit in here.  If you don't," he shrugged, "You'll get a jail sentence."

Sabé looked at him.  Her heart was in turmoil.  She was utterly loyal to her father, but then again, she didn't want to get put in jail.  She looked up at Panaka, biting her lip.  She turned slightly to look at the four women who she guessed were handmaidens too.  Then she sighed.  

"My name's Sabé," she said to one of them – Yané, she remembered.  She held out her hands so that Yané could shake one of them.  "What's yours?"

*********************************************

Queen Amidala stared at her newest handmaiden.  Panaka had just brought her in, introduced them, and left without telling Amidala who Sabé really was.  And now Sabé was standing in front of the young queen, eyes fixed on the floor.  Amidala's other handmaidens were watching the girl surreptitiously.  Amidala got the impression that they knew more about this new handmaiden than she did.

In a strange way, it was like meeting a twin sister you never knew you had, Amidala reflected.  Sabé was almost identical to her.

"Sabé, right?" she asked finally.  The girl nodded.  "Yes, your highness," she replied.  She didn't look up at Amidala.  Yané pursed her lips.

"Sabé," she murmured, low enough that no one else heard.  Sabé looked up at her quickly, and seemed to resign herself.  She looked up and met Amidala's eyes.

"Well, welcome to the palace," Amidala said eventually.  She turned away.  "Rabé, could you help me with my hair?"

Rabé moved to seat her queen in front of a mirror.  Yané motioned for Sabé to come with her through into an another room.   Sabé followed willingly and helped Yané sort through the many new and elaborate gowns.

"Could you at least try to be a little nicer?" Yané hissed at her.  Sabé looked at Yané.  "Look, Yané, I don't want to be here, none of you want me, and I'm just trying to make the best of a bad job," she told the girl hotly.  "I apologise if I'm not nice enough."

Yané stared at her.  "Perhaps you'd prefer a prison cell?" she demanded loudly.  Sabé glared at her.  "Do you want the queen to hear?" she asked in a low voice.  "Because I certainly don't!"

"I'm afraid it's too late," came Amidala's voice from behind them.  Sabé whirled around.  Amidala, re-splendid in her gown and headdress, stood staring at her.  "Sabé, what is going on?"

Saché and Rabé moved silently to stand behind Amidala.  Sabé looked frantically at them, but they gave her no hope, and so she turned back to smoothing the gown.

"Nothing, your highness," she replied, keeping her voice level.  Amidala moved to stand in front of her, her hands halting Sabé's.

"Yané asked if you'd prefer a jail sentence," Amidala observed slowly.  "What did she mean by that?"  Sabé hung her head and didn't reply.

"She was a thief," Saché spoke up.  Sabé's head whirled around to face the handmaiden.  "She's part of the Belacque family.  She's only here because she looks so much like you, your highness; if she works out, she'll act as a decoy for you."

"Is that why you're here?" Amidala asked gently.  "To avoid a prison sentence?"  Sabé wouldn't look in her eyes, and couldn't reply.  "If so, you may as well say it."

"That's not why," Sabé muttered finally.  "I thought – I thought I'd be safe here."  Rabé snorted.  "Safe from a jail sentence?" she asked sneeringly.  Sabé whirled around to face her.

"No," she said coldly.  "But I can't tell you why."  She glanced at Amidala.  "And please don't try to command me to say, because years as a thief have taught me to hold my tongue."   

Amidala met her eyes, measuring the girl, and then nodded slowly.  "I will not ask you," she said softly.  "But I hope that one day you will tell me."  She turned and swept out of the room.  Sabé's face crumpled, and silent tears fell down her face.  The handmaidens looked at her, and left.

*********************************************

Several hours later

*********************************************

Sabé watched as Panaka demonstrated how to use the blaster.  She took the proffered weapon, and inspected it.  She raised an eyebrow.  "Good weapon," she commented coolly.  She looked at the target, raised the weapon and shot a round.  

Once the fire had died down, Panaka looked in amazement at the target.  Five bullseyes.  He turned his gaze on Sabé.  She shrugged.  "I've been using a blaster since I was five," she told him shortly, handing back to weapon.  

"Perhaps you could help some of the other handmaidens with their shooting skills," he suggested.  She shrugged.  He let out an exasperated sigh, but said nothing else.  Then the door opened, and Eirtaé entered.

"Sabé, her highness needs you," the handmaiden told the girl.  Sabé nodded quickly.  "Some other time perhaps, Captain," she smiled at Panaka.  Then she followed the other handmaiden out and up to the queen's quarters.

"There's someone who wishes to speak to you," Amidala told her bluntly once she arrived.  Sabé paled and put a hand on a chair to steady herself.

"How can there be?" she heard herself ask.  "No one knows I'm here…unless…"  She hurried over to the comm. console, ignoring Amidala's demands of 'unless what?'  She pressed a button, and a face swirled into view.

"How the hell did you find out I was here?" she hissed, recognising the man.  The man raised an eyebrow.  "How the hell did you end up in the palace?" he countered coolly.  "And no contact?  What are you playing at, Sabé?"

"I got caught," Sabé replied shortly. "You know the rules, Hick.  Don't play games now.  Besides, I quit, remember?"  Hick shook his head.  "Father wants to bend the rules," he said softly.  "You're the best, Sabé.  Don't turn your back on us now."

"Leave me the hell alone, Hick," Sabé told him, shaking violently.  She closed the comm. link, and slammed her fist down on the table.  When she looked up, Amidala and the four handmaidens were looking at her demandingly.

"Who was it?" Amidala asked.  Sabé shook her head.  "I can't tell you," she told the queen.  "Please, your highness, please don't make me tell you!"

"You said that you quit," Rabé spoke up.  "Is that true?  Did you quit before you came to the palace?"

"Yes," Sabé said at last.  "I did."  "Why?" Yané asked, shocked.  Sabé stood suddenly, moving to stare out of the window.  

"I had enough," she said finally, reluctantly.  "I was tired of always running, always hiding.  I figured even jail had to be better than that."  She turned back to face them.  "I've been a thief since as long as I can remember – since I was a tiny child.  I've never known anything else.  And then I realised that there was life outside the family.  I came here to confess everything – where they were, what their plans were."  She sighed.  "But I couldn't go through the guards.  They wouldn't have listened to me – me, Sabé Belacque!"  She gave a bitter laugh.  "So I figured, go over the wall and through the gardens, find Panaka.  I figured he'd listen to me before he clapped me in irons.  But then those damn guards found me and jumped to conclusions."

She sat down in a chair, fiddling with the edge of her dress.  "I was going to confess so that I'd be safe.  But then when Panaka gave me the option of being a handmaiden, I realised that this would be even safer."  She snorted.  "I didn't figure on my cousin's resources."

"I wouldn't exactly call this job safe," Saché remarked.  Sabé looked up at her, a strange smile twisting her lips.  "It's safe compared to what I'm used to," she told them all.  

"What exactly did you want to be safe from?" Amidala asked, moving to sit next to her.  Sabé looked at her briefly, then came to a decision.  She pulled the sleeve of her dress up, revealing a large, hand-shaped bruise that was just turning purple.

"Your father?" Amidala asked softly.  Sabé nodded, dropping the sleeve.  "Oh, Sabé.  You should have said something!"   

"To who?" Sabé demanded.  "Until I came here, I hardly knew anyone outside the family.  And if you'll excuse me saying it, your highness, but none of you have exactly led the kind of life I've led."

"I was abused when I was little," Saché spoke up softly.  "My parents died when I was only three, and I was moved from foster home to foster home until I was adopted when I was eight.  One of my foster fathers physically and mentally abused me."

Sabé looked at her.  The two pairs of eyes connected and something passed between them.  Sabé nodded.  "Okay, you do understand a little," she observed softly.  "But Saché, your highness, all of you, I was involved in a lot of burglaries.  I was the one who stole the Stone of Water, for heaven's sake!"

Amidala stared at her.  "You stole the Stone of Water?" she asked quietly.  Sabé nodded, her eyes closed.  "Where is it now?"

Sabé hesitated, then pulled of her boot to reveal a turquoise blue stone set in copper tied by a string around her ankle.

"Oh Gods," Eirtaé murmured.  Sabé shrugged her shoulders, and pulled her boot back on.  "Father let me keep it because it was my first major steal," she told them.  "That was, what, three years ago?"

"You were just thirteen," Rabé murmured.  Sabé nodded matter-of-factly.  "I was old to start major," she told them.  My brothers and cousins started earlier."

"How many of you are there?" Yané asked.  Sabé counted in her head.  "About fifty direct," she replied.  "But another twenty or so indirect, helping with info and reconnaissance.  I'm not the youngest by a long shot."

"Who's the youngest?" Amidala asked softly.  Sabé considered.  "My nephew, Benny," she told her queen at last.  "He's seven.  But he only does small stuff," she hastened to add.

"Are you going to tell anyone?" the young queen asked her.  Sabé looked up, a small smile on her face.  "I just did, didn't I?" she replied with a query.  Amidala, smiling, nodded.  "What are you going to do?" Sabé whispered.

"If you don't want me to, I can't say anything to Panaka," Amidala told her handmaiden, albeit reluctantly.  "But you must understand that if you tell me anything else, I'll be obligated to tell him."

Sabé nodded slowly.  "Tell him everything," she said at last.  "I don't care any more."

"Where are they?" Saché asked her.  Sabé looked up.  She paused for a moment, then told her the name of a town near Theed.  Saché nodded.  Sabé stood and moved to the window.

"Thank you, Sabé," Amidala said at length.  "This will help Naboo a lot."  Sabé turned back to her.  "This wasn't for Naboo," she replied.  "I couldn't care less about Naboo.  This is for me."  Then she went into her room.    

There was silence in the room as Amidala and her handmaidens comprehended all of what Sabé had just told them.  Then Amidala pulled herself together.  "Eirtaé, fetch Captain Panaka," she ordered the girl quietly.  Eirtaé nodded and left.  Amidala looked at the other three.  "Saché, could you talk to Sabé?" she asked.  Saché nodded, and after a moment followed Sabé's path to her room.  

Rabé and Yané looked at Amidala.  "Help me get changed," Amidala told them after a moment.

********************************************************************************************


	2. The Story of a Thief - part 2

Sabé twitched uncomfortably in the heavy gown and heavier headdress Chrissie Bligh Normal Chrissie Bligh 2 0 2001-11-02T14:44:00Z 2001-11-02T14:44:00Z 9 2942 16775 HP 139 33 20600 9.2720 

Sabé twitched uncomfortably in the heavy gown and heavier headdress.  As Yané applied the thick white makeup to her face, her pleading eyes met Amidala's.  "I can't do this," she protested.

"Hold still," Yané told her crossly.  Rabé, brushing Sabé's hair up into the headdress, smiled slightly.  When Yané went to wash her hands free of the paint, Amidala moved in to paint Sabé's face with the red.  The Scar of Remembrance was carefully drawn on Sabé's lower lip, preventing her from speaking.  Once Amidala was finished, she looked up at Sabé.  

"You have to get used to it," she reminded her handmaiden.  "And you may as well start now."

"But in this dress?" Sabé demanded.  Amidala's lips twitched as if she was trying not to laugh.  "You chose today on purpose, didn't you!"

"Of course she didn't," Eirtaé sailed in smoothly.  "But she's right; you have to get used to being a decoy at some point or another, why not now?"

Sabé's shoulders slumped.  Amidala rapped them sharply.  "Stand tall," she told the girl.  "Keep you chin held high.  Look down to no one."  Sabé did as she was told, looking as much like Amidala as the Queen did herself.

"What do I say?" Sabé inquired of her queen.  "I mean…I'm not a queen."

"You are today," Saché told her in passing.  Sabé looked at her, chagrined.  Amidala hid a smile.  "You won't have to say much," she told her handmaiden.  "But remember how I coached you, okay?"

Sabé nodded, and then a thought struck her.  "What am I supposed to call you?" she demanded.  "I can't exactly call you Amidala or your highness."  Amidala hesitated for a moment.  "Call me Padmé," she replied softly.  "It's my given name."

Their eyes connected, and Sabé could see the amount of trust Amidala had given her.  She nodded, not breaking eye contact.  "Padmé," she repeated.  She looked up as Yané reappeared.

"It's time, your highness," she curtseyed to Sabé, a twinkle in her eyes.  Sabé exchanged one more look with Padmé, then held her head high and moved out of the Queen's quarters.

She was met by Panaka, who knew of the switch, and he smiled at her.  She nodded gravely, and then he escorted her out to the transport.  The group travelled to the new museum, which Queen Amidala was supposed to be opening today.

As they walked off the transport, Sabé could feel everyone's eyes on her, each demanding something different of their queen.  She smiled at everyone, and moved to meet the head of the museums of Theed, Elios Potique, her skirts trailing behind her.  

Her greeting with Potique went fine, and she managed to open the museum without tripping up, but then she caught sight of someone in the crowd.  Underneath the white makeup she turned pale.  She followed the woman's gaze, and saw a man moving around the back of the museum.

She turned slightly to see Padmé, her eyes trying to convey the urgency of the situation.  Padmé half-narrowed her eyes, and nodded.  She fell back slightly, and touched Panaka's arm, whispering to him.  Panaka raised his head, glancing at Sabé, who was walking serenely ahead of him, and at the museum.  He nodded to Padmé, and moved to speak with the guards surrounding them.

Saché, walking just behind Sabé, glanced up as she saw a movement in the crowd.  For a split second she met a woman's eyes, and saw as the woman drew a blaster.  Then she threw herself in front of Sabé.

She was too late.  Screams went up as Sabé's tiny form crumpled from a blaster bolt.  Padmé was at her side in a moment, making sure she was alright, and guards were moving through the crowd, chasing after the fleeing woman.

"Get a med. team here!" Padmé snapped to Eirtaé, who pulled out her comm. unit to comply.  "Sabé, are you alright?" she demanded.  Sabé's eyes met hers, and she smiled weakly.  "Right as rain," she managed.  She moved her hand slightly, and Padmé saw with horror the dark red patch on the cream dress before Sabé's hand covered it again, pressing down.

The medical team hurried past Padmé, moving her aside to get to their 'queen'.  Padmé moved to Panaka.  "Who did it?" she demanded urgently.  Panaka looked down at her, worry evident in his eyes.  "Your highness, get to cover," he urged her.  "Yané, Eirtaé!"  The two handmaidens pulled Padmé into a transport, followed by Saché and Rabé, and they returned to the Palace.

********************************************************************************************

Sabé opened her eyes to be greeted with a painful bright light and very loud noises.  "Ow!" she whimpered, in a voice hoarse from not speaking.  "Bright, loud!"

The sounds instantly ceased, and only the low murmur of someone's voice now echoed in her ears.  After a moment, that too ceased, and the lights dimmed.  Sabé opened her eyes again carefully.

Three Queens swam into her vision, and Sabé frowned slightly.  She blinked several times, willing herself to focus, and the Padmé's turned into one Padmé, very concerned.  Saché, Rabé, Yané and Eirtaé were all crowded around the end of her bed, and Sabé saw that she was in the Palace medical centre.

"What…" she cleared her throat.  "What happened?"  Padmé's worried eyes met her own.  "You were shot," she gently told her handmaiden.  Sabé closed her eyes again, recalling in her mind the face she had seen in the crowd.

"It was a warning," she managed.  "A warning to me."  She opened her eyes again.  "It's not safe to be around me, your highness," she said softly.  "I should probably leave."

"You're not going anywhere," Padmé told her firmly.  "Let alone in your condition.  We can worry about why it happened later.  For now, just get better."

The door opened, and Panaka came in.  Sabé winced at his loud voice as he spoke to the Queen.  She tuned out what was being said, leaning back in her bed and relaxing as pain shot through her from the wound in her stomach.

Panaka came up to her, looking down.  "Sabé," he began softly.  Sabé's eyes opened, and she stared dully up at him.  "I need to know who shot you."

"It's not something that will harm the Queen," Sabé rasped.  "Just me."  Panaka's eyes showed for an instant the hurt he felt at that.  Sabé was surprised.  "It's you I'm worried about," he told her gently.  Sabé managed a laugh before the pain hit her.  "Who shot you, Sabé?"

Sabé was silent for a moment, then she spoke.  "Mara Belacque," she said at last.  Panaka's head shot up, then he looked back down at her sharply.  "We caught most of them in the raid the other day," he told her.  "Mara was among the few who escaped."

"She knew that it was I who betrayed them," Sabé managed.  "It's the Belacque way - to take revenge.  She shot the Queen as a warning to me – she didn't know it was me, not Padmé."

"Your own mother?" Panaka demanded.  The five at the end of the bed looked sharply at Sabé, who nodded, before shutting her eyes again.  "Loud," she murmured.  Padmé moved to stand next to Panaka.

"Captain, enough," she commanded.  "When Sabé is well enough, she will tell us more."  Uneasily, Panaka nodded, and followed his queen from the room.  All the other handmaidens except Yané moved from the room too.  Sabé reopened her eyes to stare at the handmaiden who seemed to dislike her the most.  Yané was watching her, a queer expression on her face.

"What?" Sabé managed.  Yané shook her head.  "I never realised what your life has been," she whispered.  Sabé closed her eyes, leaning back on the soft pillows that urged her to sleep.  "You never will," she replied softly.

*********************************************

Sabé lay in the medical centre for another day before she decided she'd had enough.  Ignoring Yané and Saché's exclamations, she pulled herself off the bed, touched her wound gently, winced, and slipped her feet into her slippers.

"I hate doctors," she said firmly.  "I'm not staying here another minute."  She hesitated.  "Besides, there are some things I need to do," she added softly.  Yané and Saché exchanged glances.

"Padmé wants you to stay here," Yané said in her soft voice.  "You were shot in the gut, Sabé.  You can't just brush it off."  Sabé fixed her with a look.  "I have before," she said quietly.  She pulled on a robe over her nightgown, and walked firmly out of the med. centre.  Yané and Saché hurried after her.

Padmé, Eirtaé, and Rabé were in the throne room, 'on duty', so Sabé easily slipped through the palace to the shared apartment.  Yané and Saché urged her into a comfy chair, and Sabé agreed to that, drawing the computer console closer to her.  Her hands flew over the keyboard, her eyes flickered from side to side, reading the lines of text.

"What are you doing?" Saché demanded after a moment.  Sabé paused, glancing up at the handmaiden.  "Looking," she said, her voice hard.  

"What for?" Yané asked.  Sabé hesitated.  "My mother," she replied after a moment.  Her eyes hardened as her fingers again flew over the keys.  Finally there was a beeping noise, and Sabé nodded in grim satisfaction.

She touched her wound again, and then stood, making Saché and Yané look up.  Whilst Sabé had been searching, they'd been playing a card game.  Now they stood anxiously, following Sabé into her room, watching as the older girl pulled out some of her own clothes to get changed into.

Sabé buttoned up her top, and pulled on her boots.  Rummaging under her bed, she withdrew two blasters, highly illegal and extremely delicate.  She attached them to her waist, and slid a knife into her boot.

The door to the main area slid open, and Padmé swept through, concern and anger on her face.  Rabé and Eirtaé trailed her, both looking frustrated.  As Sabé walked out of her room, checking her blasters one more time, Padmé halted.

"Sabé, you should be in bed," she told the older girl sharply.  Sabé glanced up.  "Your Highness, unfortunately I have to inform you that I can no longer work for you," she said simply.  Padmé looked taken aback.  "I have some personal business to take care of.  If I survive…" she shrugged.  "We'll see what happens."

"What do you mean, if you survive?" Rabé demanded.  Her eyes dropped to the blasters holstered at Sabé's waist.  "Oh no, Sabé, no."

"It's what has to be done," Sabé told them all simply.  "I may no longer be a thief, but I'm still bound by the family code.  She shot me.  It was a warning and a challenge.  If I don't take it up, she'll come after all those I care about."  Her eyes rested lightly on Padmé.  "Unfortunately, that would leave Naboo without a ruler."  Her eyes drifted to take in all the other handmaidens.  "And even if she doesn't get Padmé, the queen would be left without protection."  She pulled the hood of her cloak up over her head.  She curtseyed to Padmé.  "I hope I'll see you again, Padmé."  

Then she was gone.  Padmé sat limply down on a chair, not quite believing what her handmaiden and friend had just told her.  Then she looked up at Eirtaé, her eyes hard.  "Eirtaé, follow her," she commanded.  Eirtaé nodded once, and paused only to feel for the blaster hidden in her robes.

Sabé moved silently through the palace, inconspicuous enough that no one noticed her until she ran into Panaka.  

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, trying to move past him before he realised it was her.  But he grasped her arm in a tight grip, his sharp eyes taking in everything about her appearance, from her blasters to her cloaked head.

"Sabé, what are you doing?" he demanded.  Sabé met his eyes boldly.  "What I have to do, Captain," she replied coldly.  "If I don't, she'll come after those I care about, and I know you don't want Naboo to be monarch-less."

"She wouldn't be able to get in, Sabé," he reminded her.  She shook her head.  "She can get anywhere," she murmured.  She wrenched her arm from Panaka's grip, and re-settled her cloak.  "I'm going, Captain, you can't stop me."

"At least take guards with you," Panaka tried to reason with her.  Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Eirtaé whisk herself behind a column; he knew Sabé hadn't seen her.  Sabé shook her head.  "This is personal," she told him.  With that, she disappeared down the hall, her boots make sharp noises on the marble floor.

"Captain," Eirtaé hurried up to him.  "The Queen has commanded me to follow her."  Panaka looked down at the handmaiden, his face painted with worry.  "You'd just get caught in the crossfire," he told her.  "Tell her highness that I said it wasn't safe for you."

"And how safe is it for Sabé?" Eirtaé cried, her blue eyes alive with worry.  Panaka sighed.  "She's the best with a blaster I've seen in a long time," he told her.  "She'll survive if anyone can."  He glanced up to where Sabé had gone, the  back down at the handmaiden.  "Never the less," he sighed.  "I'll get a security team to follow her.  Get Rabé to come; she's the best shot out of you all so far."

Eirtaé nodded, and hurried to fetch Rabé.  Panaka sighed again.  "Be careful, Sabé," he murmured.

*********************************************

It took Sabé just under two hours to reach the Belacque sanctuary, ten miles or so from Theed.  It was an old deserted farmhouse; the yard, which under normal circumstances would have been crowded with the family, was almost deserted.  Only a few men and women were gathered in groups; a couple of tiny children ran around the yard, playing with a ball.

None of them saw her, which Sabé counted as an advantage.  She had to do this right, otherwise Mara would go after Padmé regardless.  She crept through the bushes towards the edge of the yard, pulled one of her blasters from her belt, and fired three shots into the middle of the yard, well away from any of the family.

There was uproar as the family scattered, grabbing children as they moved swiftly to the protection the wall of the farmhouse offered.  Sabé moved out of the bushes, and raised her chin as they stared.

"I accept your challenge, Mara Belacque," she shouted, her clear tones ringing throughout the yard and house.  Mara separated herself from the group, and moved to stand before her daughter.  Her short black hair was scraped back into a ponytail, and her blaster glittered at her waist.

"Choose your weapon, Sabé," Mara told Sabé harshly.  Sabé threw down her blasters, indicating that she would not fight with them.  After a moment, Mara's blaster joined them.  

"Hand to hand," Sabé chose coolly.  "All rules apply."  Mara nodded slightly.  "They always do," she reminded her daughter, before bowing and assuming an defensive position.  Sabé bowed, then did the same.

For a time, all they did was circle each other.  It wasn't Sabé's way to attack first, but Mara was the one who had taught her to wait, and so it was a matter of whose patience would wear out first.  

In the end, Mara's anger at her daughter decided who would strike first.  Mara lashed out with a round-house kick, catching Sabé full in the jaw, and Sabé stumbled back a pace before attacking Mara with all she had.  The fight was almost too fast for anyone to see; kicks and punches were thrown from both people; first Mara stumbled, then Sabé, then Sabé threw Mara over her shoulder, pounding her to the floor but not getting out of range fast enough.  Mara managed a kick to Sabé's stomach, and the girl stumbled backwards several paces, gasping as pain wrenched through her from pulled stitches.  She touched her hand to the dark top and pulled it away to see blood on her fingers.  She looked up at Mara, pure and cold anger in her eyes.

Silence filled the yard still; silence but for the sounds of the fight.  Sabé almost wished the family would make some noise.  But she knew they wouldn't – she'd seen enough fights like this to know exactly what would happen.  This was a fight to the death, and no one would interfere.

She attacked with a ferocity that almost improved her moves.  Punches connected every time, kicks rarely missed.  Mara was getting tired by this point, and Sabé knew she had the advantage, both because Mara wasn't used to this level of fighting and because Mara was older.

Mara managed to land a blow on Sabé, and Sabé fell to the ground, winded.  Mara held off for a moment, but a moment was all Sabé needed to flip onto her hands and back onto her feet, connecting a blow to Mara's jaw as she did so.

The fight continued for minutes; Sabé continued to have the advantage, but both she and Mara knew that her advantage was extremely tenuous.  By the time they both broke apart and started circling each other again, both were sweating and breathing heavily.

Then they were fighting once more, and Mara fought more clumsily now.  Sabé knew that soon she would be able to make a killing blow, but part of her hung back, prolonging the fight, not wanting to kill her own mother, even though she knew that if Mara was in her position she would kill Sabé in an instant.

Finally she knew she couldn't hold off any longer.  After a few quick blows to Mara's stomach, jaw and legs, Sabé swung herself into a round-house kick.  Her boot connected solidly with the side of Mara's head, and Sabé could see the bitterness and horror in Mara's eyes as her head saw pushed to one side, breaking her neck.

The body dropped to the floor, and Sabé stared down at her dead mother.  There was a rushing sound in her ears, and once she realised that it was her own heartbeat, she was able to hear other sounds.

Slowly she limped to retrieve her blasters from where she had discarded them earlier, and replaced them in their holsters in her belt.  She looked up as her uncle Enyos moved to stop her from leaving.

"I have fulfilled the challenge," she told him, her voice sounding dull in her ears.  "Stop me leaving and I'll have to challenge you too.  Remember, I got caught."

"And yet you came to fight," he reminded her harshly.  She looked up at him, a sort of wonder in her eyes.  "Yes, I did," she murmured.  "She would have killed my friends if I hadn't."

"Sabé!" came another voice, and Sabé turned slightly to see her elder brother Hick.  "You sold us out," he accused.  She nodded, a slight smile curling her lips.  "And I'll tell them where everyone else is if you do anything else to harm me or my friends," she warned.

A young girl came up to her, and Sabé nodded to her sister Mica.  "Sabé, you were shot," Mica said, a queer expression on her face.  "You're bleeding."  Sabé looked down at the blood that was growing on her top.  "Yes," she nodded.  "I was acting as a decoy for the queen.  Mother shot me, not her."  Then she moved past the three who had talked to her, and limped out of the yard.

Most of the family had remained in absolute silence for the half hour in which the fight had taken place, Sabé recollected as she limped along the road.  She knew she would never make it back to Theed like this, but she had no other option.

Then she looked up as the sound of a transport met her ears.  Fighting a wave of vertigo, she dimly recognised a Royal Transport before she dropped to her knees and keeled over, unconscious.

Rabé and Sache rushed out of the transport almost before it had stopped, and lifted Sabé carefully onto the transport.  They ordered the driver to turn around and get them back to the palace, and then Sache, who had medical training, carefully slit Sabé's shirt to get a look at the wound.

"She's pulled the stitches," she muttered.  "Looks like she got kicked in the stomach."  Rabé took a look at the wound and wished she hadn't.  "What about her other injuries?" she managed to ask.  Saché gave the bruises and cuts on Sabé's face a cursory glance.  "Not as bad as this," she said grimly, pulling a length of bandage from a compartment and wrapping it tightly around the wound.  She winced as her fingers brushed over Sabé's chest.  "I think she broke a couple of ribs," she murmured.

Rabé moved to hurry the driver as Saché did as much as she could with the rough equipment and limited training she had.  It took them less than twenty minutes to reach the palace, and Eirtaé was waiting for them with a med. team.  

Sabé's eyes flickered open as she was rushed through the halls to the medical centre.  She could only dimly make up the worried face of Saché hovering above her, but she managed to smile weakly before she lapsed back into unconsciousness.

********************************************************************************************


	3. The Story of a Thief - part 3

It was three days before Sabé woke up; three days filled with worry for the Padmé and the handmaidens Chrissie Bligh Normal Chrissie Bligh 2 1 2001-11-02T14:44:00Z 2001-11-02T14:44:00Z 6 2054 11708 HP 97 23 14378 9.2720 

It was three days before Sabé woke up; three days filled with worry for the Padmé and the handmaidens.  Sabé's injuries, although many of them minor, piled up on one another to make her condition worse.  In addition to the stitches she'd pulled and her broken ribs, she'd twisted her ankle slightly and had broken one of her fingers.  Her face was a mess, covered with purple and yellow bruises and small cuts.  She'd hit her head, and had a slight concussion.

The medics said they'd never seen anyone sustain injuries like that and yet still be able to walk.

When Sabé finally did open her eyes, the afternoon sun was streaming into the room through a large window.  She turned her head , wincing at the pain of her stiff neck and the gradually-healing injuries on her face, and frowned slightly as she realised she was in her own room, not the med. centre.

"Yané said you hate doctors," Rabé's voice came from the other side.  Sabé managed to turn her head to see the handmaiden, sitting by the bed with some embroidery.  "So Padmé had you brought here."

Sabé nodded, moistening her lips before trying to speak.  "How did I get here?" she croaked.  Rabe's eyes met hers.  "Saché and I followed you," she said softly.  Sabé closed her eyes again, hearing again the crack of her mother's neck as it twisted and broke.

"Did you see any of…" she trailed off.  "No," Rabé said, rising.  She placed a cool hand on Sabé's forehead.  "Rest," she said quietly.  "I'll tell Padmé you're awake."

She disappeared through the door, and Sabé took a deep breath, wincing as pain shot through her chest.  She realised she'd broken at least one rib, and she groaned slightly.

She looked up again as Padmé came in softly, dressed in a simple robe instead of her heavy official gowns.  None of the other handmaidens followed her, and Sabé was relieved.  She didn't think she could manage all of them at once right now.

"Hey," Padmé said softly, sitting herself where Rabé had been only a few moments before.  "Hi," Sabé greeted, her voice cracking a little.  "How bad am I?"

"Bad enough," Padmé replied after a moment.  Sabé nodded, and pain shot through her body.  "I guess I'm not going anywhere for a while then," she managed.  Padmé shook her head.  

"I won't ask what happened, Sabé," Padmé started after a moment.  Sabé closed her eyes to stare straight into Mara's betrayed ones.  "You're still in a bad condition.  But I want you to tell me, if you can, once you're better."

Sabé opened her eyes again to stare out of the window at Theed.  Padmé was distressed to see that the brown eyes were dull, devoid of emotion.  "Nothing happened," Sabé said softly.  "Absolutely nothing."

Padmé watched her for a moment, then rose.  "I'll send Yané in to keep an eye on you," she told the girl.  "Rest, Sabé, and get better."  Then she was gone.

Sabé drifted in and out of sleep for at least a day after that.  She refused food, and she kept on seeing Mara's face whenever she closed her eyes.  When she opened them, she heard the sound of Mara's neck snapping.

She hardly noticed when the handmaidens keeping watch over her changed; she ignored all attempts at conversation with her, and when Saché, who watched over her during the night, fell asleep, Sabé lay awake, staring at the ceiling.

Finally, several days later, the doctors allowed her to get up.  She wasn't allowed to do anything active, so she mainly sat in the shared main room and stared out of the window.  Padmé still left a handmaiden to watch over her, and in the evenings, when everyone was in the main room, Sabé could hear their muted whispers about her, could almost feel their concern about her.

She sat as if in a trance, still not eating.  The doctors grew more worried about her, and turned to Padmé in despair.  But the young Queen could offer them nothing to help Sabé with, and Sabé grew thinner and thinner.

Until one day Captain Panaka brought her a visitor.  The man was handcuffed, and when Yané let him in, she was bemused to look into brown eyes that were almost identical to Sabé's.  Then it hit her.  She turned to look at Sabé, who still stared out of the window.

"Sabé," Panaka said softly.  Dazed, Sabé turned her head to look up at the captain, and Panaka was aghast to see how pale and drawn Sabé had become.  When Sabé saw her visitor, she grew even paler.

"Dad," she murmured.  She looked down for a moment, then looked up again, her shock gone, replaced by her passive look once more.  "Why?" she asked simply.

"Because you can't keep going on like this, Sabé," Panaka said quietly.  "You're wasting away.  Now, I don't know what happened that day, but I know I want to.  I know Yané wants to, and Rabé, and Saché, and Eirtaé, they all want to know.  Her highness wants to know.  And I'm pretty sure Randy would like to know too."

Sabé's eyes regained a little of their emotion, and Panaka allowed Randy to move to sit opposite his daughter.  Brown eyes met brown eyes, and Sabé's face tightened.

Yané and Panaka took up positions near the door, and Yané took the opportunity to tell Panaka exactly what she thought of his plan.  "You do know he abused her?" she hissed to him.  He nodded.  "This might be just what she needs," he murmured in reply.  Then he nodded towards the two, and Yané watched them.

"What happened, Sabé?" Randy asked her tightly.  Sabé wrenched her eyes from his, and stared again out of the window.  "She challenged me," she said dully.  She glanced back at him.  "She shot at the Queen, only I was the queen, not Amidala.  We'd switched places, you see.  So her warning to me actually injured me.  I took up the challenge.  I went there, however many days ago it was, and I fought her."

"To the death?" Randy queried, although he already knew the answer.  Sabé nodded, barely hearing Yané's sharp intake of breath.  

"I killed her," she said softly after a very long moment of silence.  She raised her eyes to meet Randy's.  "I killed my mother," she repeated.  A tear fell from her eye, then another and another.  She wept, but she made no sound.

Panaka, seeing the danger, moved to take Randy out, but Randy stopped for a moment, staring down at his daughter.  "Sabé," he said in a commanding voice.  Sabe looked up automatically.  "It was a fair fight," he told her.  "She challenged you, she knew the risks.  You aren't to blame."  Then Panaka took him out, and Yané rushed to her friend.

Tears came fast and thick then, and Yané held Sabé to her.  Sabé's face crumbled, and she sobbed, letting all her pain out.  The two sat there for what seemed like hours, until Sabé managed to stop crying and pulled back from Yané.

"I killed her, Yané," Sabé said softly.  "I killed my own mother.  And none of them tried to stop us, because she'd challenged me."

Yané hesitated before answering Sabé's unspoken plea.  "I can't pretend to understand the life you've led, Sabé," she said soothingly.  "But I've found out enough to realise that you and your family live by a very strict honour system.  If she challenged you, I'm guessing you were bound by the rules to answer that challenge."  Sabe nodded, drying her face with her sleeve as she did so.  "So you weren't to blame, Sabé.  It wasn't your fault."

After a moment, Sabé opened her mouth and spoke again.  "We fought hand to hand," she told the younger girl.  "A fight to the death, according to the rules.  I snapped her neck, Yané.  I can't stop hearing that sound.  Her eyes…"  She trailed off, seeing them again.  Yané put aside her horror and lifted Sabé's chin so that their eyes met.  "It wasn't your fault," she said firmly.  "You keep on blaming yourself and you'll end up wasting away, Sabé."

Sabé nodded slightly.  She glanced down at her hands, and then looked up at Yané.  "I don't suppose the palace kitchen has ice cream?" she asked in a small voice.  Yané's face split into a grin.  "Only one way to find out," she replied, shrugging and moving to the comm. unit.

Within three minutes two huge bowls of ice cream had been delivered, and Sabé was eating like she'd never eat again.  In the midst of their feeding frenzy, Yané made jokes and told funny anecdotes from the days Sabé had missed whilst under medical care.  When Padmé entered the rooms with Rabe, Saché and Eirtaé, she was extremely taken aback to hear Sabé laugh; it was a sound she hadn't heard before, and she immediately wished Sabé would laugh more.

When Sabé looked up and saw Padmé, her face grew grave again, and she glanced at Yané for reassurance.  Yané nodded and smiled, her eyes shining gently at the older girl.  Sabé placed her empty bowl on the table next to her, and rose to greet the queen.

The looked at each other for a moment, whilst Sabé decided what to say, then she spoke.  "I killed her," she said softly.  "I took up her challenge and I won."

No more tears fell, but she closed her eyes briefly.  Padmé's arms enveloped her, and Sabé opened her eyes again to smile sadly at her queen.

"I can't stay, Padmé," she said softly.  "I need to live in the real world for a bit."  Padmé nodded.  "I thought you'd say that," she replied quietly.  "As did Captain Panaka.  He's managed to get you a full pardon."  Sabé's face was a picture, and Rabé had to smile.  "There'll always be a place here for you, Sabé, whenever you want to come back," Padmé told her.

Sabé nodded.  "I can't leave for a few days," she said, taking a breath and wincing from the pain in her still-healing ribs.  "But when my ankle's better, and my ribs, I'll find somewhere to stay and I'll go."  She hesitated, and looked around at all the handmaidens – at all her friends, she corrected herself.  "I'll come back," she said firmly.  "In a couple of months, I'll be back."

Padmé nodded, and she and Rabé moved to take her headdress off.  Sabé stood for a moment, then went to help.

********************************************************************************************

Six months later

********************************************************************************************

Sabé looked up from the holonet anxiously.  Her friend and flatmate, Tica, met her gaze.  "What do you think will happen with the Trade Federation?" she asked Sabé.

Sabé shrugged and stood, stretching.  "I'm not sure," she replied.  "Her highness won't back down, that's for sure."  Tica nodded, accepting her friend's judgement of the queen.  She didn't know why, but Sabé always seemed to be right when it came to Amidala of Naboo.

Sabé looked back at Tica.  "I have to start my shift in twenty minutes," she said reluctantly, "Or I'd stay and help you with your assignments."  Tica nodded acceptance; although she liked Sabé helping her with the work she was assigned by her college, she knew Sabé had other commitments as well.

"When will you be back later?" she called as Sabé moved to retrieve her cloak and shoes from the hall.  Sabé's head reappeared around the doorframe.  "I'm not sure," she replied.  "Shift ends at, uh, sixteen-hundred, so I guess about sixteen-hundred thirty."  Tica nodded, and Sabé sailed out of the door.

As she walked swiftly through the streets, Sabé's thoughts again turned to Padmé Amidala.  The young queen had made no attempt to contact her, as Sabé had requested, and the handmaidens had respected Sabé's wishes in that department as well.  But now Sabé was worried.  The Trade Federation was growing more and more restless, and with new taxation enforced by the Senate, all of Naboo was becoming more and more unsettled.

In fact, Sabé thought to herself, now would be as good a time as any to go look up Captain Panaka again.  But before that, she had to get through her shift at the large clothes chain-store.

Several hours later, Sabé pulled off her uniform and changed back into the comfort of her simple tunic and leggings.  She glanced at the chronometer to find that she didn't have time to call in at the Royal Security Office after all.  As she pulled her hair out of its ties, and slid on her cloak and hurried out of the shop.

As she walked through the streets, she could hear the rumours and concerns that flew about from person to person, and they worried her even more that she already had been.  But she sighed, and moved on.

Tica wasn't in when she reached the apartment, and Sabé read a hurriedly-written note saying that the girl had gone out with her boyfriend.  Moving through to the kitchen, she grabbed a snack and then settled on the couch with a book.

For the next few days, the worry that had been building up in Theed stayed just that – unexpressed worry.  Citizens went about their business, and apart from the holonets, Sabé was almost convinced that nothing was going to come out of the Trade Federation's threats.

Until one day, about a week after that, the Trade Federation boycotted Naboo.  Sabé was at work when it happened, and so didn't find out about it until she was leaving, when her duty manager stopped her to tell her about it.

Blood rushed from Sabé's face, and she absently thanked the manager before leaving.  Her thoughts returned once again to Padmé, so before returning home she hurried to the gym, the place she always went to when she was overly worried.

As she went through her exercises and picked up her staff to do her practice with that, Sabé's mind calmed and she reminded herself sternly that Padmé wouldn't give in to any demands of the cowardly Neimoidians.

"Sabé!" came a voice.  Sabé pulled back from her thrust to turn and see one of her friends, Jon, walking up to her, shrugging his shirt off.  "You want a spar?"

Sabé grinned.  Her friend knew her too well, she thought to herself amusedly.  He'd picked up on her worry instantly.  "Sure, Jon," she smiled back.  "Staffs though, I need more practice."

Jon scoffed at her, his blue eyes twinkling.  "You, more practice?  Sabé, you're pretty much the best in all Naboo – you ready to tell me where you learnt it all yet?"

It was a long-standing joke between them, but Sabé was already too focused on the fight to reply with more than a secretive smile.  She saluted Jon with the staff, and he did the same.  And then they fought.

*********************************************


	4. The Story of a Thief - part 4

Sabé returned home from the gym one day to find the Trade Federation's droid armies everywhere Chrissie Bligh Normal Chrissie Bligh 2 0 2001-11-02T14:45:00Z 2001-11-02T14:45:00Z 10 3220 18356 HP 152 36 22542 9.2720 

Sabé returned home from the gym one day to find the Trade Federation's droid armies everywhere.  Heart racing, she followed a group to her apartment block, and managed to slip past them to reach her apartment, where Tica was working. 

"Tica!" she gasped, once she'd entered the apartment.  "The Trade Federation has invaded – they're nearly on us!"  Tica rose, pale, and Sabé remembered that Tica had no combat training.  She thought fast, and pulled her blaster out of its hidden holster in her tunic.

"Stay back," she warned Tica.  "Keep behind the couch, then you won't get shot."  "Sabé, are you sure you know what you're doing?" Tica demanded anxiously, even whilst she moved to do what Sabé had told her.

"Yes, I know," Sabé replied, making sure her blaster was fully loaded.  When the droids burst through the front door, she was ready for them.  She took out five of them with the first round, and kicked the blaster out of the sixth's metallic arms.

But not before it had managed to shoot wildly.  Tica, startled, had lifted her head to see what was happening, and even as Sabé took out the last droid, she knew that Tica had been shot.  She rushed around to her friend, but Tica had taken a blast to the head, and there was nothing Sabé could do.

Sabé sat for a moment, sickened, and then took action.  Retrieving her staff from the hall, she replaced her blaster with a loaded one, and slid her knife into her boot.  She tied back her hair so that if there was a fight the long, thick brown mass wouldn't get in the way.

Then she left the apartment.  Moving silently through back passages and alleyways, she managed to avoid almost all of the patrols.  She headed for the palace, but then she caught a glimpse of the queen, accompanied by four handmaidens, Panaka and Governor Bibble, being marched towards on of the detention camps that had quickly been set up.

"Shazit," Sabé cursed in her native dialect.  She abruptly changed direction to follow the group.  She was about to move from one street to another, a little ahead of Amidala, when she was caught by a patrol.

"Halt!" one of the droids ordered.  Sabé stopped, and turned around to face the droids.  "Is there a problem?" she asked, hiding her disgust with politeness.  Three blasters were aimed at her.  She tried not to be worried.

"You are under arrest," the droid told her.  "You will be taken to detention camp four until further notice."  Sabé licked her lisp and leant on her staff in a show of weakness.  "Why?" she asked lightly.  "I'm just going to work…"

The droid made a noise that, if she hadn't known it was a droid, Sabé would have classed as a sigh.  Then Sabé's eyes twinkled, and she lifted her eyes to see the queen, liberated from her captors, hurrying through the streets before her, accompanied by what looked like Jedi.

"Certainly, I'll come along," she agreed.  Her voice turned hard.  "In a million years!"  She lifted her staff in a motion almost too quick to see and swung around, taking off two of the droids' heads with one blow.  The head of the other droid was blown off, and Sabé looked up to see Captain Panaka hurrying over to her.

"Impeccable timing, Captain," she smiled at him.  His expression was priceless when he realised who she was.  "Sabé?" he demanded.  "How did you escape the droids?"

"I hate getting caught," she told him distractedly.  She looked to where Amidala and the rest of the group had halted, only a few metres away, and Sabé was amused to see that Amidala was really Rabé.  She could see Padmé a little behind Rabé, and she met the girl's eyes.

"Captain," one of the Jedi said quietly.  "The main hangar."  Panaka looked back at Amidala/Rabé, and the 'queen' gave a barely perceptible nod.  "Come on, Sabé," he commanded.  "You'll have to come with us."

Sabé fell into the strange procession at the back, next to the younger Jedi.  She didn't talk to him, because he was watching the streets around the cautiously, but she noticed that his eyes flickered to her several times.

And then they were in the hangar.  The younger Jedi moved to free the pilots, and the older one attempted to get them past the droids.  Within moments, lightsabers flashed and blasters fired, and Amidala/Rabé was hurrying into the ship with Yané, Saché, Eirtaé and Padmé.  Sabé followed up the procession, moving into the ship after the Gungan who had followed them, shooting a couple of droids who attempted to stop her.  Then she was in the ship, and Yané was hurrying her into the throne room of the ship, where Rabé had been installed.

There was no one else there for the moment, so Sabé was able to quickly hug her friends.  But she was unable to answer any of their comments, because Panaka came in to report hurriedly that they were under attack from the droid control ship.  Sabé met his eyes, and he nodded.  She moved through to the cockpit, and took the place of the artillery-man there.  She shot several shots that managed to hit the shields of the control ship, and destroyed several of the droid-controlled fighters.  Then they were out, and Sabé was able to return to the throne room.

The Jedi told the queen that they would have to put down on Tatooine for repairs, and although Amidala/Rabé didn't like it, she agreed to the plan.  Then the Jedi left, and Sabé was surrounded by handmaidens, queen and guard.

"How did you escape the detention camps?" Saché demanded, grinning.  Sabé shrugged.  "You know I don't like getting caught," she commented.  Her eyes grew hard as she thought again of Tica, lying dead on the floor of their apartment.  "Besides, I was worried about you," she told Padmé.

"I'm glad you found us," Rabé said quietly.  Panaka nodded.  "You're good in a fight," he remarked.  "If it comes down to it, you'll be good to have around."

Sabé met Padmé's hard and worried eyes.  The young queen said nothing though, and Panaka soon left to get an update from the cockpit.

"I'll show you where you'll be sleeping," Eirtaé smiled.  She glanced at Padmé, and the girl nodded.  Sabé followed Eirtaé through the gleaming ship and into a small cabin near Amidala and the handmaidens' cabin.  

Sabé rested her staff on the bed, pulling her blasters of her waist and her knife from her boot.  Then she turned back to Eirtaé.

"It really is good to see you, Sabé," Eirtaé told her softly.  Sabé smiled at the younger girl.  "Good to see you to, Eirtaé," she replied softly.  She looked around.  "Although I must say, I do choose the best times, don't I?"  Her eyes twinkled at Eirtaé's transparent blue one, and Eirtaé smiled sadly.

*********************************************

Sabé sat in the messhall next to Saché, sipping her ration soup with distaste.  Rabé, Yané and Eirtaé were all in the throne room, 'on duty', and Padmé had left with Qui-Gon Jinn and Jar Jar Binks to see Mos Espa and to get parts,  so Saché had accompanied Sabé to eat.

The younger Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi, sat several chairs away, deep in thought, and Sabé couldn't help but glance over at him several times.  Saché, noticing her friend's gaze, smiled slightly.

"So what have you been doing with yourself, Sabé?" Saché demanded, drawing Sabé's attention from Kenobi.  Sabé shrugged.  "A bit of everything, really," she replied.  "For the first couple of months I travelled all over Naboo with a circus, then I came back to Theed and ran a market stall with a lady for a while.  Then she gave it up, and I now work in the joyous business of mass retailing."  She made a face.  "I made a lot of friends though," she admitted quietly.  "I feel a lot better about me."

Saché nodded.  "Good," she approved.  She slid a sideways glance at Sabé.  "So, you up for a spar later on?"  Sabé grinned.  "You know me, Saché.  I'm always up for it."

Saché smiled, but her smile didn't reach her eyes this time.  "Yeah, always ready for a fight," she agreed.  Sabé put her spoon down.  "What is it, Saché?" she asked softly.  Sache raised her head to meet Sabé's eyes.  "Nothing," she said firmly.  "I'm just worried, that's all."

Sabé nodded, and finishing her soup, she moved to wash up the bowl.  Saché still sat eating, so Sabé slipped along the corridors to the deserted exercise room.  Pulling her shoes off, she began moving through her exercises.

Closing her eyes, she moved slowly but surely through each movement, the familiar action calming her mind.  She heard someone enter the room, but she assumed it was Saché, and so didn't turn to greet the person.  She sped up the exercise, loosening tight muscles and tightening loose muscles so that her body was perfectly ready for a fight again.

She opened her eyes so that she could see where she was in the room, and flipped backwards onto her hands, swinging her body around on her hands and landing lightly on her feet.  

"Where did you learn that?" came a curious voice, and Sabé spun around to see Obi-Wan Kenobi watching her, an impressed look on his face.  "I'm sorry," he apologised quickly.  "I didn't mean to intrude."  He hesitated.  "You move like a true fighter," he said softly.

Sabé smiled tightly.  "I learnt it in a circus," she replied to his first question.  "And you're not intruding – exercising helps relax me.  And I guess I am  fighter," she shrugged.  She moved to a locker at the side of the room, and pulled out one of the practice staffs stored there.  She swung it around, feeling its weight, then chose another, heavier one.

"How many different forms of fighting do you know?" Obi-Wan asked, moving to stand next to the locker.  Sabé shrugged.  "Hand to hand, staff, fencing," she counted them.  "A load of different types of hand to hand, and I shoot well."

"Would you care to give me a demonstration?" he asked.  Sabé's eyes twinkled.  "Careful, Jedi," she teased.  "I've not been bested in five years."

"How old are you?" Obi-Wan demanded.  "You look no older than fifteen."  Sabé laughed.  "Seventeen," she managed.  "Come on, little Jedi.  What weapon do you choose?"

Obi-Wan studied her for a moment.  "Fencing," he said after a moment.  "It's enough like fighting with a lightsaber, I imagine."

"One handed," Sabé warned, replacing the staff and pulling out a couple of lightweight practice swords.  "And no Jedi tricks."

"Sure," Obi-Wan agreed.  He shed his cloak and shoes, and Sabé swung the sword around a couple of times.  Then they moved to the centre of the room.

"En guarde," she said lightly.  She saluted him with the sword, and he did the same.  They circled, and Sabé waited patiently for Obi-Wan to make the first move.  After a couple of minutes, he did, and Sabé parried the thrust easily, spinning around and thrusting at him.  He easily deflected the blow, and they carried on that way for a while, neither one gaining the advantage, just wearing each other out.

The door opened, and Sabé glanced quickly to see Panaka and Saché stare at her in astonishment.  The moment she took was enough for Obi-Wan to force the advantage.  He moved forward with heavy blows, and it was all Sabé could do to fend him off.

Then she met his eyes.  They were blue-green, filled with amusement at Sabé.  Anger and pride blazed.  She deflected his blows and attacked with ferocity.  She pushed him back and back towards the wall, and he couldn't stop her.  Finally he was pressed against the wall, and Sabé pulled his blade from his grasp with her blade.  She touched her blade lightly to his neck.

"Kill point," she said softly.  "I win."  Obi-Wan looked at her with a new respect, and in a fluid movement she reached down and picked up his blade, replacing both of them in the locker. 

"Wow," Saché managed, standing at the door.  Sabé glanced up at her friends.  She shrugged.  "I practise a lot," she explained.  "And I learnt from the best."  Her kind flashed back to her parents, and perhaps Panaka saw the sudden pain fill her eyes, because he spoke.

"Jedi Kenobi, her highness has received a transmission from Naboo.  She wishes you to see it."  Obi-Wan nodded and pulled his boots back on, settling the cloak over his shoulders.

Sabé followed them after a moment, and as she heard Governor Bibble's message, her heart wrenched as she again remembered Tica, her head shot in by a droid.  She left before Obi-Wan did, fleeing the message and fleeing her memory.  She ran to her cabin, and for many hours could not sleep.

When she did finally drift off, her dreams were filled with bloody memories; her eldest cousin, dying in a fight when she was only six; her father beating her; Tica, bloodied and dead; then she lived through her dreams the awful fight with her mother of six months before.

But in her dream, Mara did not die.  She fell to the ground, and looked up at her, her head bent grotesquely out of shape.  She looked up at Sabé, and she spoke, but Sabé could not hear what she said.

She awoke, screaming, gasping and sweating.  Her door slid open, and Panaka, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Yané all hurried through to discover what was wrong.  Sabé could not speak, but buried her head in Yané's arms.

Panaka, satisfied that there was no danger, left reluctantly, but Obi-Wan stayed whilst Yané comforted her friend.  

"It was the fight again, Yané," Sabé managed finally.  "It was the fight."  Yané cupped her face with her hand, and spoke to her soothingly.  "It was over a long time ago, Sabé, and it wasn't your fault."

Sabé nodded, and managed to relax slightly.  She managed a tight smile.  "I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep," she said softly.  Yané rolled her eyes.  "With Saché's snoring, you think I was asleep anyway?"  The girls laughed softly, and Yané left, throwing the silent Obi-Wan Kenobi a glance as she did so.

"I'm sorry if I woke you up," Sabé said after a moment.  Obi-Wan nodded.  "Do you often have nightmares like that?" he asked.  Sabé shrugged.  "Not that often," she replied.  "I guess I'm just letting the situation get to me."  She thought again of her dead friend, then banished the thought from her mind.  Obi-wan made a move as if to leave, but she impulsively half-rose from the bed and placed a hand on his arm.

"Please – don't go," she asked, her eyes showing him how scared she really was.  "I don't want to fall asleep again."  Obi-Wan met her eyes and nodded, sitting down next to the bed,

"How do you know the queen?" he asked after a moment.  Sabé smiled a little, leaning back against the wall.  "I was one of her handmaidens for a few weeks," she replied.  "Then I had to leave, for personal reasons."

"When was that?" he inquired.  Sabé did some quick calculations in her mind.  "About six months ago," she told him.  "That would be about right," she mused.

"So what did you do before that?" he asked, leaning back in his chair.  Sabé's face closed up.  "I was a thief," she said flatly.  Obi-Wan's eyes widened.  "So that's how you managed to beat me before – you learned it all as a thief," he surmised.  Sabé gave a short shrug.  Obi-Wan changed the subject.

"So why did you leave?" he probed gently.  Sabé's face closed up again.  "I'd rather not talk about it," she said firmly.  Obi-Wan nodded and rose.  "Get some sleep," he advised her.  "We have a long day ahead of us."

*********************************************

For the next few days Sabé mainly kept to herself.  She helped Yané, Saché and Eirtaé with their handmaiden duties a little, and exercised in the exercise room, but she ate alone, and avoided Panaka and Obi-Wan Kenobi.  As she'd only had the clothes she was wearing when she boarded, she borrowed some of the handmaiden robes until they arrived on Coruscant.

Once Qui-Gon, Padmé and Jar Jar Binks had returned with the parts, plus a small boy called Anakin Skywalker, the ship was able to take off, and they were finally on their way to Coruscant.

Padmé searched Sabé out several hours after she'd returned to the ship.  She was still in the guise of a handmaiden, because Anakin, Qui-Gon and Jar Jar knew her now.

She found Sabé practising with her staff in the exercise room.  Yané had told her that Sabé was generally to be found there, and Padmé couldn't help but admire the girl's dedication and talent.

"Sabé," she called softly from the door.  Sabé turned, smiled slightly.  "Hi, Padmé," she said.  "You gonna hover in the door forever?"

"Saché told me you had a nightmare," the queen said abruptly.  Sabé's staff arm dropped so the staff was horizontal.  "Yes," she admitted quietly.  "I guess I've been letting things get to me recently."

Padmé moved into the room, gently taking the staff from Sabé.  "If you need to talk," she began.  Sabé smiled.  "You'll be my first choice," she promised.  Padmé nodded, then turned to more serious matters.  "Sabé, I have a favour to ask," she began.  Sabé raised an eyebrow.  "You have only to command," she said dryly.  

"If I need it, when we return to Naboo, will you be my decoy?" Padmé asked.  Sabé took a deep breath.  "I'm no longer an inconspicuous handmaiden," she warned.  "Jedi Kenobi knows me, and Jedi Jinn."

But Padmé nodded.  She had thought of that.  "We'll say you've been reinstated as a handmaiden," she said.  "Except for Eirtaé, most people can't tell us apart, you know that.  Please, Sabé?"

Sabé closed her eyes briefly.  "Remember what happened last time?" she half-whispered.  She opened her eyes again, and Padmé could see the fear and resolve in them.  "Padmé, promise me," she said hurriedly.  "If I die, don't tell them my name.  I want to be a nameless box of ashes somewhere."

"I can't promise that," Padmé said slowly.  "Because you are not going to die."  Sabé smiled.  "I'll do it," she murmured.  "I'll do anything for you, Padmé.  You gave me my life."

"No," Padmé contradicted.  "You gave yourself your life."

When they reached Coruscant, Sabé was cloaked in a handmaiden robe in Amidala's entourage.  Rabé was still playing the queen, although Sabé had argued fiercely that it should be her now.  For a few moments Sabé's heart froze when Senator Palpatine's gaze flickered over the handmaidens and she met his eyes for second.  Then the group started walking, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

She listened in silent disgust as Palpatine gave his opinion about the invasion to Padmé – now the queen – and urged her to move for a Vote of No Confidence against the chancellor.  Sabé had never liked Palpatine, although perhaps it was more a family prejudice, she allowed.  Palpatine had always been particularly disliked by the Belacque family because of his hard theories on thieves.

Once Palpatine had left, the handmaidens hurried to help Padmé change into yet another dress.   When Sabé saw the heavy headdress she winced, and her eyes connected with Rabé's, the only other handmaiden who had worn the head-dresses.

"Better you than us," she smiled gaily at Padmé, who let out a heavy sigh as the huge ensemble was placed on her head.  Padmé stuck her tongue out at the two older girls, and they laughed at her.

"Sabé, during the Senate hearing, you can go and do the shopping you wanted to do," Padmé told her friend.  Sabé smiled and nodded.  "Thank you, your highness," she replied, her eyes twinkling.  Then a comm. signal came through from the door, and Rabé hurried to answer it.

"The boy's here to see Padmé," the guard told her.  Rabé turned slightly to glance at Sabé – Padmé was behind a separating wall – and Sabé nodded.

"Let him in," Rabé ordered softly.  The door slid open, and the young, sandy-haired boy came in.  "I'm sorry Ani," Rabé said to him, "But Padmé is not here right now."

"Who is it?" Padmé asked in her regal voice, although she knew full well who it was.  Rabé turned towards her queen, still hidden.  "Anakin Skywalker, to see Padmé, your highness," she explained.  Sabé turned slightly as Padmé walked so that she could see the boy.  

"I've sent Padmé on an errand," she told him.  Anakin's smile drooped slightly.  "I'm on my way to the Jedi Temple, to start my training – I hope," he explained.  Although he didn't notice it, Padmé's eyes lit up.  "I may never see her again, so I wanted to say goodbye."

"We will tell her for you," Padmé told him.  "We are sure her heart goes with you."  Anakin brightened.  "Thank you, your highness!" he replied, positively beaming, and left after bowing.

Padmé's eyes met Sabé's slightly accusing ones, and Sabé turned away to change into her normal clothes so she wouldn't stand out in Coruscant.  None of the other handmaidens would meet Padmé's eyes either, and Padmé clenched her fists in the heavy robes.

Senator Palpatine appeared to escort Padmé to the Senate, and Sabé left to find herself some clothes.  She walked noiselessly through the corridors of the senatorial building, and then out into the streets.

Coruscant was absolutely teeming with people, Sabé soon realised.  She'd looked up the nearest shopping centre when she was in the apartment, but she soon realised that it was hard enough just to move against the flow of the crowd, let alone find her way anywhere.  

She managed to press herself against a building for a moment to get her bearings, and looked up at the sky, at all the transport ships flying about the airspace.  "Wow," she murmured.  She pulled a datapad from her bag, and consulted the map displayed on it, finding her position.

"Shazit," she cursed.  She pushed the datapad back into her bag and sighed.  She brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, and frowned.  

"Coruscant can be hard to navigate," came a voice right by her ear, and she jumped, turning to see Obi-Wan Kenobi grinning at her.  She glared at him.  "It's not nice to sneak up on people," she told him sharply.  He shrugged.  "Need a hand?" he asked.  Reluctantly she nodded.

"Her highness gave me some time to find some clothes," she explained.  "I only have handmaiden robes and the clothes I came in, because of those damn droids."

Obi-Wan shrugged.  "There's a shopping centre near here," he told her."  "I know," she interrupted.  "I was trying to get to it.  However, I've never been on Coruscant."

"Well, I grew up here."  Obi-Wan's eyes twinkled.  "Want a guide?"  Sabé smiled sweetly.  "Please," she agreed.  Obi-Wan took her hand and started ploughing through the crowds.

*********************************************


	5. The Story of a Thief - part 5

An hour later, Obi-Wan left Sabé outside the queen's apartment, and she entered, laden with two bags of clothing Chrissie Bligh Normal Chrissie Bligh 1 7 2001-11-02T14:31:00Z 2001-11-02T14:43:00Z 10 3465 19755 HP 164 39 24260 9.2720 

An hour later, Obi-Wan left Sabé outside the queen's apartment, and she entered, laden with two bags of clothing.  Saché pounced on her as soon as she walked in, taking her bags.  Yané hurried up with one of the handmaiden robes, and Sabé's head spun.

"What's going on?" she demanded, as Rabé pulled her hair from its ties and sat her down in front of a mirror, brushing rapidly through the brown mass and retying it tightly.

"We're returning to Naboo," Padmé's voice came from behind her.  Sabé craned around to try and see her, but Rabé rapped her head hard, so Sabé peered into the mirror to see Padmé, dressed in another of her gowns.  "Where were you, Sabé?"

"I'm sorry, your highness," Sabé murmured.  "Coruscant crowds proved a little difficult to manoeuvre."  Padmé nodded and turned away.

Sabé quickly changed into the flame-coloured robe, and within minutes they were heading towards the hangar, where the Royal Transport lay waiting.  Sabé saw Obi-Wan's eyes flicker to her as she boarded, but she didn't return the gaze, too preoccupied with the tension she could almost feel rolling off Padmé.

The journey back to Naboo seemed shorter than the journey from it had been, although Sabé knew that they had spent several days on Tatooine.  There was little conversation between anyone, and Sabé spent most of the time changing from handmaiden to queen, supposedly to let her get used to it before they landed on Naboo, but really so that Padmé could get a breather.

Then, finally, they landed on Naboo.  Sabé, dressed in the queen's battle uniform, felt as if she was going to get shot at any moment because of the red headdress.  Padmé, Yané, Rabé, Saché and Eirtaé all wore the handmaiden battle uniforms, although they had hurriedly made a change to them because of Sabé's addition to their ranks; hoods fell over their faces, concealing any revealing features.

Sabé sent Jar Jar Binks to seek out the Gungans, and then she waited with Padmé, quietly discussing what she would do.  The other four surrounded them, making it appear as though the queen was merely talking with her handmaidens.

Then Jar Jar emerged from the swamps, and told them that the Gungans weren't in their city.  Sabé met Panaka's worried gaze, then looked at the Gungan.

"When in trouble, Gungans go to sacred place," he told her.  "Mesa show you, come on, mesa show you."  He loped through the forests, and after a moment, Sabé followed.  

For about fifteen minutes they all trudged through the forest after the clumsy Gungan, and Sabé could feel the eyes of the Naboo on her back, wondering what their queen was doing.  She allowed herself a smile.

And then they were there, and surrounded by Gungan sentries, and being taken to Boss Nass, the huge Gungan leader.

"Who's da oosen odders?" Boss Nass boomed to Jar Jar.  Here goes, Sabé thought grimly.  She took a step forward.  "I am Queen Amidala of the Naboo," she said.  "I come before you in peace."  She could feel Padmé silently praising her words.  

"Naboo!" Boss Nass thundered.  "Yousa bringen da maccaneks.  Yousa all bombad!"  Sabé took a small breath.  Try again, she told herself firmly.

"We have sought you out because we wish to form an alliance," she started.  But Padmé stepped forward, pulling off her hood, and Sabé instantly realised what her queen had in mind.  

"Your honour," she said.  "I am Queen Amidala."  The guards, both Naboo and Gungan, were taken aback.  Sabé could see Anakin staring in astonishment at Padmé.  She couldn't see the Jedi, but could almost imagine Obi-Wan's surprised face.  "This is my decoy," Padmé continued, turning to look at Sabé, who nodded slightly.  "My protection.  My loyal bodyguard."

Padmé turned back to Boss Nass.  "I'm sorry for the deception, but it was necessary to protect myself," she explained.  Her eyes softened slightly.  "Although we do not always agree, your honour, our two great societies have always lived in peace.  But now the Trade Federation threatens to destroy all that we have worked so hard to build.  If we do not act quickly, all that we value will be lost forever."

Her voice softened.  "I ask you to help us."  She paused.  "No, I beg you to help us."  She dropped abruptly to her knees in front of the Gungan leader.  There was an audible gasp of surprise from the Naboo.  "We are your humble servants," she said clearly.  "Our fate is in your hands."

Slowly, one by one, all the Naboo dropped to their knees behind her.  Sabé, closest to Padmé, was able to murmur a question to her.

"What are you doing?" she demanded softly.  Padmé turned slightly to look at her, her face showing clearly that she was Amidala, even though she wore no makeup.  "My job," the queen replied equally softly, then turned back to Boss Nass.

For a moment, no one said anything.  Then a slow, deep rumble of laughter rose out of the throat of Boss Nass.  Padmé's eyes flickered with confusion for just a moment.

"Yousa no tinken you greater den de Gungans?" he demanded.  Padmé shook her head, still confused.  "Mesa lika dis.  Mebbe wesa being friends."  Her shook his head vigorously, making a huge noise, and Padmé smiled involuntarily.  The rest of the Naboo laughed a little too, and they all rose.  

As Padmé turned back to call Panaka forward, she met Sabé's eyes.  "I still need you to act as my decoy, Sabé," she told the older girl softly.  Sabé nodded briskly.  "I'll be ready," she promised.  Padmé nodded, and moved to fetch Panaka.

The other handmaidens had thrown off their hoods now – there was no need for them anymore – and moved froward to surround Sabé.

"Are you sure you're not her twin?" Eirtaé laughingly demanded.  "You almost had me convinced."

"I wish I had your confidence," Sabé half-smiled weakly.  "When he said that we brought the droid armies…"  She trailed off, shaking her head.  "Let's just say I hope I don't have to do that again," she muttered.

"Sabé," came a different voice, and Sabé turned to see Obi-Wan Kenobi.  Discreetly, Yané, Rabé, Saché and Eirtaé melted away.  "Obi-Wan," Sabé nodded, a smile playing on her face.  "I'm sorry about my deception."

"I thought there was something going on," Obi-Wan admitted quietly.  "And I noticed you looked very like the queen when we first met."  Sabé nodded thoughtfully, and turned to watch the swift preparations that the Gungans and Naboo were already making.  Her arms crept up to hug herself and she winced as she put pressure on her stomach.

"What is it?" Obi-Wan asked instantly, concerned.  Sabé grimaced.  "An old wound," she told him.  "I got shut in the gut a couple of times, and it never really healed properly."

Passing, Padmé overheard her remarks and was at her side in an instant.  "Perhaps it never healed because you never let it, Sabé," she commented tartly.  "Let me see!"  Reluctantly, Sabé undid the fastenings of the tunic so that Padmé could the raw skin and livid scars.  "Sabé!"

Sabé rolled her eyes and fastened her tunic up again.  "I've been living with it for six months, your highness," she said firmly.  "I promise, if we succeed I'll get it seen to."  Reluctantly, Padmé nodded and moved away.  "I'll get it seen to in a million years," Sabé muttered.  She turned back to Obi-Wan.

"Shot in the gut?" Obi-Wan demanded, an eyebrow raised.  Sabé shrugged.  "Hazard of the job," she said simply.  "I'm fine now."

"Fine doesn't mean you're in pain every time you put pressure on it," came  deeper voice from behind her.  Sabé groaned.  "Do Jedi just like creeping up on me?" she complained, turning to look up at Qui-Gon Jinn.  "I am _fine.  I'll get it looked at after the fight."  Her face hardened.  "There are plenty of people in worse condition."_

Qui-Gon nodded, his eyes serious.  "But can you carry out your part with the wound?" he asked gently.  Sabé squeezed her eyes shut.  "I did before," she said sharply.  "I'm not the Queen's bodyguard for nothing."

"And yet you weren't when we first met you," Qui-Gon mused, moving to sit on a rotten tree trunk next to Sabé.  He met Obi-Wan's eyes for a moment, then the padawan disappeared to do something else.  Sabé glanced after him for a moment, then checked her blaster.

"No," she replied to his statement, although no answer was necessary.  "I wasn't.  I haven't been for a while.  But I am now, and that's what counts."

"Sabé!"  An anxious-looking Saché appeared at Sabé's side.  Sabé straightened.  "What is it, Saché?" she asked calmly.  Saché glanced quickly at the Jedi, then explained.  "Her highness needs to go through the plan with you," she told Sabé.  Sabé nodded.  "Excuse me, Master Jedi," she said hurriedly to Qui-Gon, who nodded and went to seek his padawan.  Sabé and Saché hurried through the crowd to Padmé.

*********************************************

As the small group of Naboo rushed through the hangar, Sabé kept her eyes open and her hand resting lightly on her blaster.  Droids fired at them, and Sabé fired back.  Rabé covered her as she moved from one side of the hangar to another, following Padmé.

Then they were at the main doors, and as they opened, Sabé's heart stilled for a moment.  A black-cloaked figure stood there.  He held a deactivated lightsaber in his hands, and his head, beneath the hood, was tattooed black and red.  Sabé could feel the waves of anger and hate rolling off him.

"We'll handle this," Qui-Gon murmured, stepping forward with Obi-Wan.  Padmé nodded.  "We'll take the long way," she said decisively.  She veered off to one side, and Sabé and the rest followed her.

Soon they split up, Padmé nodding for Sabé to lead the second group whilst the younger girl went up the side of the building to the throne room.  

"This way," Sabé ordered.  Yané and Eirtaé, the two who were in her group, saw where Sabé was leading and quickly understood her idea.  "You'll never get up there in time," Eirtaé told her sharply.  Sabé merely looked at her silently and led the way to the elevator shaft.

"Handmaiden," one of the guards spoke up after she'd outlined her plan.  "There's no way we'll be able to get up there – what if the elevator is stuck right where we need to go?"

Sabé turned to glare at him even while she nodded for the other guards to send up their grappling hooks.  "I know the schematics for this elevator," she snapped.  "The power has been cut, the elevator went straight to the bottom.  Get moving."

Within minutes, they were up the shaft and swinging themselves onto the floor they needed to be on.  Sabé led the way through the corridors towards the throne room.

It took her only a split second to judge the situation when she saw Padmé and the other guards in the capture of the Neimoidians.  She heard him assume that she was the queen, and knew what she had to do.

"Viceroy!" she called in her best regal voice, skidding to a halt.  "Your occupation here has ended!"  She raised her blaster and shot the head off a nearby droid.  

"After her!" the Viceroy roared.  Sabé and her group moved to either side of the door, but Padmé blasted the controls before many of the droids got through.  The group shot most of the droid-guards, but then the surviving droids suddenly made a sort of whining noise, and drooped.  Sabé realised what had happened with a rush of relief.

"The Control ship must have been destroyed," she said softly.  She kicked at a droid, and looked up at the door, which guards were already forcing open.  Padmé was standing, glaring at the Neimoidian, but she glanced at Sabé and nodded, her face tight.  Sabé, Yané and Eirtaé moved in to flank their queen, joining Saché and Rabé.

"Take him away," Padmé ordered Panaka then, and the captain readily agreed, beckoning a couple of the guards to escort the Viceroy from the throne room.

"Congratulations, your highness," Sabé murmured.  Padmé turned to look at her, noting the fatigue and pain on her handmaiden's face.  "Your wound?" she asked softly.  Sabé shook her head.  "I'm fine, your highness," she said firmly.  Then a thought struck her.  "Someone should find the Jedi," she observed.

Padmé and Rabé exchanged worried glances.  "You go, Sabé," the young queen said finally.  "When you return, go straight to the medical centre," she added, as Sabé bowed slightly and moved off.  Yané stifled an amused remark, as she knew Sabé would pretend not to hear.

Panaka fell into step with her on the way back down to the hangar, and Sabé pretended not to see the concern on the captain's face as she favoured her left ankle and winced whenever she moved her upper body too much.

"You did well, Sabé," Panaka told her as they passed security forces clearing up droid parts.  Sabé glanced at him.  "I did my job, Captain," she murmured.  "As did we all."

Panaka stopped her, a hand on her arm.  "You're not giving yourself enough credit," he reproved her.  She shrugged him off.  "We have to find the Jedi," she muttered.  She moved on, and stumbled, her ankle collapsing.

"Sabé!"  With a  groan, Panaka caught Sabé, and moved her over to a window seat.  "Your ankle – what happened?"

"I've had a bad ankle for a while," Sabé told him crossly.  "It's from when I was in the circus."  Panaka's face split into a worried grin.  "Saché told me about that," he murmured.  "And what about your stomach?" he demanded then.  Sabé rolled her eyes and stood carefully.  "An old injury," she said carefully.  Panaka realised what she was talking about with a groan.

"The Jedi," Sabé reminded him.  He nodded and stood.  The two continued on their way.  They reached the hangar with no more mishaps, and Sabé knelt to pick up the two discarded cloaks, fingering them thoughtfully.  She handed one to Panaka, holding one herself.  She glanced up at the doors which had been stuck open.

"They must have gone through there," Panaka observed.  Sabé nodded, and moving through to the large corridor, she noticed scorch marks on some of the walls and the floor.  Her silent mood affected Panaka, and he made no more comment until they reached the energy core.

"They could be anywhere in here!" he exclaimed.  Sabé turned to look at him.  "No," she replied slowly.  "Not anywhere."  She turned back to look at the vast cavernous room.  "Let's head for the core," she said then.  "We can turn off the fields."  Panaka nodded, and followed her down a level and across a catwalk .

Suddenly she stilled.  She saw something that made her turn pale and that tore a  cry out of her, then she ran as fast as she could towards the core.  Panaka shouted for her to slow down, but she didn't, and managed to get through most of the fields before they turned and closed.  

Inside the core, Sabé could see that Obi-Wan had heard her shout, and was looking up at her.  He looked lost, confused, hurt.  Sabé's heart wrenched to see him like that, and as soon as the field cycle was complete, she was through the corridor and in the core, wrapping her arms around Obi-Wan and drawing him away slightly from Qui-Gon's lifeless body.

Panaka, who hadn't made it through the cycle, stood just beyond the first field, his face show all his emotions for once; incredulous, shocked, horrified.  He met Sabé's eyes, and she shook her head once.  Then she looked back down at Obi-Wan.

He was sobbing, and Sabé felt tears trickle down her face in compassion for him and in sorrow for the fallen Jedi Master.  She carefully moved him further away from the edge of the pit, further away from his Master's body.

Then Panaka was through, checking Qui-Gon's pulse and quietly calling for a team to come to fetch the body.

"No," Sabé said firmly.  "He'll want to do it himself.  Just give us some time, Captain."  Panaka looked at her for a moment then nodded, moving to deactivate the fields.  Then he was gone.

"Thank you," Obi-Wan managed in a raw whisper.  Sabé looked down at him, meeting his soft blue-green eyes.  "Shh," she reprimanded him.  "You don't have to speak.  Just let it out, Obi-Wan."

Five minutes passed at least before Obi-Wan's tears subsided and he was able to sit up against the wall of the core.  Sabé moved to sit next to him, drawing her knees up to her chin.

"How are you so wise about this?" Obi-Wan asked at last.  Sabé glanced at him.  "Because I went through something similar," she replied at last.  "I know it's different – it's always different.  But…"

"Thank you," Obi-Wan said softly.  There was a pause.  "I feel like I killed him."

"No," Sabé said forcefully.  "You did not kill him.  Even if you'd reached him sooner, you might not have been able to help.  He died in battle, doing his job and defending his padawan.  If you blame yourself, the guilt will eat away at you for weeks, if not months."

Again his eyes met hers.  "How do you know?" he asked in a whisper.  Sabé leant her head back against the cool wall, remembered that she still had the ghastly headdress on, and carefully took it off.  "I told you that I was a thief," she started carefully.  He nodded.  "Well, what I didn't tell you was that I was part of the largest family of thieves ever to exist on Naboo.  That's a separate part of it, but our family lives by a very strict honour code.  When I left to join the Queen, I told about the family.  They were furious – most were caught, but there were some…"

She paused to collect her thoughts.  "My mother issued me a challenge.  I was acting the decoy queen, and she shot me, thinking I was Amidala."

"That's when you got shot in the gut," Obi-Wan surmised.  "For the second time," Sabé corrected him.  "But yes.  Then I went and accepted her challenge."  She paused, and raised her haunted eyes to meet Obi-Wan's.  "A challenge in my family is always to the death, Obi-Wan," she said softly.  "So you see, whilst you did not kill Qui-Gon, I did kill my mother."

After a moment, Obi-Wan put his arm around Sabé's shoulders and drew her so that her head was resting on his chest.  "We do make a pair, don't we?" he sighed.  Sabé gave a small laugh.  "That we do," she managed.  She looked up at him.  "Are you going to be alright?" she asked seriously.

"I don't know if I'm ever going to be alright again," he confessed softly.  "But I'll manage."

"We all manage," Sabé told him.  "It's the only way we can get along."  Silence again filled the core, until Obi-Wan stood carefully and picked up Qui-Gon's lightsaber.  He clipped it to his belt, and managed to look at Qui-Gon.

"Something's missing," he muttered.  Sabé remembered the cloaks she and Panaka had found, and looked to see them at the entrance to the core.  She moved and picked up the darker, larger one.

"Here," she said, moving to give it to him.  He nodded, and carefully draped it over his master's shoulders.  Then Sabé gave him his own, and he put it on.  Then he picked up his master's lifeless form, and followed Sabé out of the core.

There were security teams everywhere once they left the energy core, and they all stood to one side respectfully as Sabé and Obi-Wan moved through the corridors.  Sabé took him to the morgue, and as Obi-Wan laid his master down carefully on one of the beds, she quickly filled in the forms that the harried official handed her.

Then she took Obi-Wan's hand and led him up to the throne room.  "I hate to do this to you now," she told him softly.  "But the Queen will want to know what's happening."

Obi-Wan nodded silently, already building up his Jedi barriers, and Sabé felt slightly better about this.  Then they were in the throne room, and Obi-Wan was facing the girl-queen.  

She stood in the middle of the room, consulting with Panaka and the other security guards, but when she caught sight of Sabé and Obi-Wan her face became grave.  She moved to meet Obi-Wan, and met his eyes.  Something passed between them, because Padmé put her arms around him impulsively.  He hesitantly put his arms around her too, and for a moment they stood there.

Sabé moved to stand next to Panaka, and he looked down at her.  "Is he alright?" he asked in a low voice.  She looked up at him.  "No," she said softly.  "He'll never be alright again.  He'll be different."  Then she looked back to where Padmé and Obi-Wan were talking in low voices.  Finally Padmé nodded, and Obi-Wan hurried from the throne room.

"He's gone to contact the Jedi Temple," Padmé told Sabé, as her handmaiden moved closer to her.  "Are you alright, Sabé?"  Sabé nodded silently, then winced as, exasperated, Padmé put a hand to Sabé's stomach.  "Med. centre!" Padmé ordered her handmaiden.  

"Please, Padmé, I'm fine, really, I am!" Sabé tried to claim.  "It's not like I haven't been living with it for the past six months."

Padmé frowned at her, and was about to speak when Panaka came up, his face grim.  "You highness," he started, bowing.  "I have news about the prisons."  Padmé and Sabé both turned towards him.  Sabe's insides turned into ice.  "It seems that when the droid armies took everyone to the detention camps, they took the prisoners from the jails as well."

His eyes met Sabé's.  "We have most people back," he allowed.  "But the Belacque family, the ones we caught – they're out."  

Everything suddenly went very dark for Sabé.  She dimly heard Padmé say something, and felt a jolt run through her body as she collapsed to her knees, and felt her palms scrape as she unconsciously used them to prop herself up.  There was a roaring in her ears, and then everything was black.

Scant minutes later she reopened her eyes to stare up at over half a dozen faces.  Gingerly she sat up, and Yané and Rabé gave her their hands to help her stand.  She felt slightly dizzy, and leant on Yané to stay standing.

"Do you know which direction they were heading in?" she heard Padmé ask Panaka quickly.  She didn't wait to hear the captain's answer.  "North," she said aloud.  "They'll head north."

She broke away from Yané and stumbled to hold herself upright.  A wave of vertigo passed over her, but she brushed it off and stood to face Panaka and Padmé.  

"Don't you even think about going after them!" Saché exclaimed fiercely.  Sabé looked at her as though she'd suddenly sprouted another head.  "Forgive me for saying so, Saché, but have you gone mad?" she asked politely.  Saché frowned in confusion.  "I'd rather move to Tatooine and become a hermit than go after them," Sabé explained sharply.  "I went after Mara before because she challenged me.  I have no reason to chase the family now."

She turned to Padmé.  "Your highness, I think I might take that trip to the medical centre now."  She swayed on her feet.  Panaka moved to support her.  She waved him off, and made it to the door before she collapsed back onto the floor.  Rolling his eyes, Panaka moved to carry her.

"This is so embarrassing," Sabé muttered, as Naboo hurried out of their way.  Panaka laughed.  "Trust you to think that," he remarked good-naturedly.  Sabé frowned, and squirmed slightly in his arms.  "Stay still," he ordered her, a smile on his face.

"I can walk perfectly well," Sabé told him.  He glanced down at her, then looked up again.  "Yes, that's why you fell," he agreed.  Sabé winced as pain stabbed at her again.  "If it's that bad, why haven't you been to a doctor before?" Panaka inquired, turning a corner.  

"It wasn't bad before," Sabé explained.  "I must have done something to it on the way to Coruscant."  He nodded, and opened his mouth so speak, closing it again as he changed his mind.

"What is it?" Sabé demanded tiredly.  Her head was starting to ache, and she was having trouble focusing.  

"You're not going to go after them, are you Sabé?"  Sabé closed her eyes at his question.  "I told you, I have no reason to," she said softly.  "Unless the Queen wishes it, I will not chase them up again."  She leant her head against Panaka's chest, slowly letting herself drift into sleep.  The last thing she remembered was being laid on a bed in the medical centre, and a hand brushing gently over her cheek.

*********************************************


	6. The Story of a Thief - part 6

Sabé woke a day later to a deserted medical centre Chrissie Bligh Normal Chrissie Bligh 1 3 2001-11-02T14:45:00Z 2001-11-02T14:48:00Z 8 2852 16258 HP 135 32 19965 9.2720 Print 75 

Sabé woke a day later to a deserted medical centre.  Gingerly feeling her stomach and vaguely surprised to find nothing amiss, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood.  Her ankle too had been seen to, and a length of bandage was now tightly wound around it.

She had been changed to a medical gown, and she drew on a robe to cover herself better.  It was dark outside, and as she padded softly through the halls and corridors of the Royal palace she encountered few people.  

Then she almost ran into three people who were standing at a window just around a corner.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Sabé exclaimed.  Their attire registered in her mind, and she realised that they were Jedi.  The tallest, a dark-skinned human, smiled gently at her.  "You are Sabé, are you not?" he asked her.  

"Yes," she replied.  "And you're Jedi."  One of the three, an olive-skinned woman, laughed softly.  "I believe Queen Amidala is looking for you," she told the girl softly.  Sabé nodded.  "Thank you," she murmured, then sped past them.  She didn't see the grave looks the three sent after her as she went.

She entered the queen's apartments quietly, so that no one noticed her until Yané was sent to fetch something.  "You're up!" the girl exclaimed, skidding to a halt.  "I'll see you later, okay?"  She rushed off without waiting for a reply.

"What do you want me to do?" Sabé asked Padmé quietly.  Padmé lifted her head and looked at her handmaiden.  "You're alright?" she demanded.  Sabé nodded.  "Then help me change into this robe," Padmé ordered.  Sabé nodded, and moved to help her.

A few minutes later Rabé shooed her away to dress whilst she fiddled about with Padmé's hair.  Sabé slipped into her old room to discover that all the new clothes she'd bought on Coruscant had been placed in the wardrobe.  She dropped the royal blue gown she'd been given onto the bed, and with a sigh stripped herself, moving into her 'fresher to shower.  

She felt a lot better once her skin was clean and her hair was tangle free, she had to admit.  She dried herself carefully, then slipped on her underwear and thin under tunic.  The material slithered over her skin, moving with her body, and she tugged on the leggings that went with it.  Then she lifted up the heavy, crushed velvet robe that went over it.  The material was for show, unlike the tunic and leggings, which were purely practical.  

Sabé struggled with the robe for a few moments, pulling it over her head as she slipped it over her arms at the same time.  The intricate beadwork caught in her long hair, and she grunted in frustration.

"You never could manage these robes," Saché said amusedly, coming to her aid.  She tugged the robe sharply, pulling it so that she could see Sabé's face.  "Her highness sent me to hurry you.  We leave in five minutes."

"Thanks, Saché," Sabé smiled in gratitude.  The handmaiden nodded and moved from the room, leaving Sabé to pull the sewn-in bodice tighter and tie the ribbons in an ornate bow.  

The dress complete, Sabé moved to the mirror and took a brush to her hair.  Swiftly brushing through the mass, she tied it back into a complicated Naboo plait.  "I really should cut it all off," she murmured rebelliously.  Then she rose and slipped her feet into the dainty slippers that came with the dress.

"What's the occasion anyway?" she asked, as she moved into the main area, catching her cloak up as she did.  Padmé looked up, a little surprised.  "I thought you knew," she said.  "It's Qui-Gon's funeral."

A wave of shock hit Sabé, and her composure faltered for a moment.  "I didn't know," she said slowly.  "I've been unconscious for the past day. I think."  Padmé nodded quickly, then rose and came towards her handmaiden.

"We have to go," she said softly.  "You're alright?"  Sabé nodded.  She pulled her hood over her head and took her place among the handmaidens who flanked the queen.  Then they moved from the room.

It didn't take them long to reach the sacred sanctuary, where Naboo rulers had been cremated for centuries.  Sabé wasn't surprised that Qui-Gon had been given that honour, but she was a little surprised by the speed with which it was taking place.  The Jedi Council had reached Naboo in record time, setting off almost before they had been told of Qui-Gon's death.

She shifted slightly in her position by the cold, open window as she watched Qui-Gon's body consumed by the flames.  She heard Anakin Skywalker ask Obi-Wan something, and the now Jedi Knight turned to answer him.  Sabé felt her gaze drawn to Chancellor Palpatine, and something stirred within her.  She dismissed it, and turned back to watch the flames.

She felt eyes on her, and beneath her hood her eyes darted to the Jedi Council.  The three she had run into before, who she now knew were Mace Windu, Depa Billaba and Ki-Adi-Mundi, were all watching her, a strange expression on each of their faces.  Another Jedi Master, a small green-skinned creature, was also watching her, but as she met his eyes, he turned back to watch the fire, sighing slightly.  But the other three continued to watch her, and she raised her head slightly, defensively.

Then finally the fire had burned out, and after a moment Padmé moved to place a hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder and spoke softly to him.  Then she moved towards the door, and Sabé gladly moved from the cold window to join her.  Just as they reached the door, something made her pause and turn back to look at the pyre again.  

"Sabé?" Padmé asked, stopping.  Sabé looked back at her queen.  "Your highness, may I stay a while?" she asked softly.  After watching her for a moment, Padmé nodded, and Sabé broke away from the group to wait for the sacred sanctuary to empty.  It did so slowly, the Jedi being the last to leave, and not all of them going.  The four who had been watching her remained behind, as did Obi-Wan Kenobi.  Anakin, after a word from Obi-Wan, followed his friend and queen.

Sabé slowly walked to the pyre.  Even though she was cold, she pushed her hood back from her face, letting the cloak pool at her face and letting a single tear slide down her cheek.  She'd barely known him, and yet in a way he'd felt like the loving father she'd never had.

Obi-Wan moved up behind her.  "Are you alright?" he asked, but his voice was slightly hollow.  Sabé looked up at him.  "Better than you, I imagine," she said, but her voice came out as a whisper.  She looked back at the pyre.  "I only found out it was happening just before we came," she admitted.  "It's just kind of a shock."

Obi-Wan's arm moved around her shoulders, and she leant into him, glad of the support.  "I heard about your family," he said softly after a moment.  She stiffened instantly and drew away, turning to face him.

"What of it?" she demanded, a little loudly.  The four Jedi, who had been quietly talking amongst themselves, lifted their heads.  Sabé bit her tongue.  "I'm sorry," she muttered.  "It's just…"

"I know," Obi-Wan nodded gently.  "Your mother."  Sabé's face flamed.  Obi-Wan tactfully changed the subject.  "Are you alright now?"

Sabé nodded.  "They did something or other to my stomach," she said.  "And my ankle's fine now.  Although I guess it's just a matter of time before I'm back in that damned med. centre."

Obi-Wan gave a soft laugh.  Sabé smiled slightly, then turned back to the pyre.  Tentatively, she stretched out a hand and ran it through the ash, lifting it and letting it drain back down through her fingers.  She shivered from the cold, and twitched uncomfortably in her tight dress.  However beautiful it might be, she reflected, it was _not comfortable._

"Come on," Obi-Wan smiled.  "You're cold.  We'd better get inside."  He bent and retrieved Sabé's cloak, settling it over her shoulders carefully.  She clicked the clasp into place so it stayed there, and followed him to the door.  Depa Billaba moved to halt them.

Obi-Wan bowed to her, and Sabé raised an eyebrow curiously.  "We would like to talk with Lady Sabé," the Jedi Mistress said softly.  "If that is alright."

"Of course," Sabé nodded.  "Obi-Wan, I'll see you later."  He nodded and slipped out.  Sabé, shivering, drew her cloak closer around her and looked expectantly at the Jedi woman before her.  Silently, Depa Billaba moved to stand with her Jedi companions.  Sabé moved to sit on the stone steps that rose around the pyre.  

"Were you ever tested for midi-chlorians?" Mace Windu asked suddenly.  Sabé blinked.  "I don't know," she said slowly.  "I assume so, but…"  She hesitated, then ploughed on.  "But my parents weren't exactly forth-coming about things like that."

"Are your parents still alive?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asked gently.  Sabé closed her eyes.  A familiar crunch was all she could hear for a moment.  "My mother's dead," she said shortly.  "I have no way of contacting my father."

"A thief, you were," mused the small alien.  Sabé looked at him.  "Yes," she nodded.  "I was.  I was brought up as one."  She frowned suddenly.  "What's going on?"  She shifted slightly on the cold step.

"You're extremely Force-sensitive," Depa Billaba explained at last.  "Strong enough that you could have been trained as a Jedi if you were younger."  Sabé was stunned.  Then her thoughts raced.

"No," she heard herself say.  She rose.  "You're wrong.  I never could be a Jedi."  She moved to the door, still in a daze, then she turned back to see the Jedi silently watching her.  "It was a Sith, wasn't it," she said, more stating a fact than asking a question.  "That killed Qui-Gon Jinn."

"It was," Mace Windu confirmed quietly.  Sabé nodded, and moved from the sanctuary.  Obi-Wan was waiting for her outside, and as she met his eyes she knew that he'd known what was being said.  But she pursed her lips and said nothing as she took his arm and led him through the palace to his guest quarters, next to Anakin's.

"Will you come in?" he asked her quietly.  Sabé shrugged slightly.  "The Queen will be expecting me," she said softly.  "The Queen knows about it," Obi-Wan told her.  "The Council talked to her earlier."

Sabé closed her eyes and allowed Obi-Wan to lead her into his rooms and seat her on a couch.  She heard him moving about, then felt a hot mug being placed in her hands.  She opened her eyes.  "Hot chocolate?" she inquired, an eyebrow raised.  Obi-Wan shrugged.  "Yané said it was your favourite," he explained.  She nodded slightly, lifting it to her lips and sipping the sweet drink.

Then she put the mug down on a nearby table.  "What did they mean, Obi-Wan?" she asked softly.  "What does it all mean?"

"It means that if we'd found you early enough, you could have become a Jedi," Obi-wan explained.  "They want to do a midi-chlorien count on your blood as soon as possible.  If it's as high as they suspect, they may leave a member of the Council here to give you some special training – mental shields, that sort of thing."

"Would it interfere with my duties?" she inquired, lifting her drink again and ingesting the explanation.  Obi-Wan shook his head silently.  She thought heavily for a moment, then sipped the hot liquid again.  "Yet another thing to blame my parents for," she muttered at last.

"Sabé, you mustn't blame them," Obi-Wan tried to say.  Sabé put down her drink in exasperation.  "No, Obi-Wan, they are the people I _must blame!" she exploded.  "They kept me from living a normal life until I was sixteen, dragging me through their life of robbery and violence.  Now I find out that they probably denied me the life of a Jedi.  They've been the cause of all the pain in my life, especially in the last six months.  Tell, me what else can I do but blame them?"_

"Forgive them," Obi-Wan said softly.  "They were doing the only thing they knew to do."  A tear slipped down Sabé's face.  "The only thing they knew how to do was hurt me," she whispered brokenly.  Obi-Wan leant forward to wipe the tear from her cheek, and his hand lingered.  Sabé looked up to meet his eyes, and saw a strange expression in his eyes, a feeling she dared not identify.

Obi-Wan's hand moved so that his palm was against Sabé's cheek, his fingertips  entwined in her hair.  His other hand reached around her, loosing her hair from its clasp.  Sabé's hand crept up to rest on Obi-Wan's shoulder.  

"What are we doing?" she whispered finally.  Her answer was Obi-Wan's lips on hers, soft, demanding.  She gave in utterly and completely, clinging to him tightly as he kissed her.  Her hair came loose from its plait, framing her face, and his hand entwined in it.

Then she was tugging at his tunic, demanding silently that it be taken off, and he complied quickly.  He removed her cloak easily, then was met with the barrier of her complicated dress.

"Let me," Sabé breathed into his mouth.  She tugged at the bodice ribbons until they were loose, then pulled the stiff dress over her head and discarded it on the floor.  Obi-Wan pulled her to stand, and led her through to his bedroom as she ripped her slippers off and removed her leggings as fast as she could.  Then she was standing next to the bed, and Obi-Wan's mouth was kissing her neck, making her gasp.  He slid off her under tunic, and she tugged at his trousers, pulling them off quickly.

She was pushed back onto the bed, and she gasped as Obi-Wan kissed her again.  Then she felt something in her mind, and her eyes flew open.

"Obi-Wan," she gasped.  His eyes met hers.  "We've bonded," he murmured.  "In mind, and in body."  Then he proceeded to make the word a deed.

*********************************************

Sabé's eyes fluttered open as the early morning sunlight filtered into the room.  Obi-Wan lay asleep next to her, and the events of the night before came rushing back to her in a rush.  She smiled, and turned her head to gaze at Obi-Wan.  Her hand crept up to brush his cheek, and he smiled as his eyes opened.  

"Morning," she smiled.  "Morning," he smiled back.  He frowned slightly.  "It's morning already?"  Sabé laughed, and he grinned inadvertently.  She shifted so that she lay more comfortably in his arms, and moaned as he nuzzled her neck.

_What's going to happen now? she sent through her new mental bond with him.  He sighed, and moved back so they could look at each other.  "I don't know," he replied softly.  They lay there for minutes, then the door chime sounded._

Sabé sat straight up in bed.  "_Shazit," she cursed.  Obi-Wan, sitting up, raised an eyebrow.  "I was supposed to be helping Padmé dress!" Sabé groaned.  The door chime sounded again, and Obi-Wan dragged himself out of bed, wrapping a robe around himself and moving through to the main area._

The door opened, and Sabé heard the annoyed tones of Eirtaé asking if Obi-Wan knew where she was.  After only a split second's hesitation, Obi-Wan said that Sabé had fallen asleep the night before and wasn't awake yet.

"I'll wake her and send her to the Queen in a moment," he added smoothly, keying the door shut on Eirtaé's incredulous face.  He turned back to see Sabé already struggling into her gown.  For once, she managed to get it over her head, and tightening the ribbons on her bodice, she looked for her shoes.

"Padmé's going to kill me," she groaned, spying them under a chair and diving for them.  She tugged them on, and tied her hair back into a ponytail.  She picked her cloak from the couch, and folded it over her arm.  Then she looked back up at Obi-Wan, who still stood watching her.

"Will I see you later?" he asked her.  She nodded.  "There's the festival day tomorrow," she reminded him.  "I'm sure to have some time off."  She hadn't answered his real question, and they both knew it.  She moved to the door, and he stood aside to let her pass.  Then he stopped her, placing a hand on her arm.  A shiver went through her at his touch, even through layers of cloth.

"I think I'm in love with you," he told her quietly.  She met his eyes.  "I know," she nodded.  "I think I'm in love with you, too."  Then she was gone.

She slipped through the corridors which, in the early hours of the morning, were still mostly empty.  She managed to make it through almost to the Queen's apartments before she was found by Captain Panaka.

"Sabé, where have you been?" he asked, exasperated.  "We've been looking for you for hours!"  Sabé raised an eyebrow.  "It's still very early, Captain," she reminded him.  "I had some news last night, and I needed to talk to Obi-Wa – Jedi Kenobi," she corrected herself quickly on his look.  "I guess I fell asleep."  He nodded slowly, not satisfied.  "Her Highness wants you," he told her then, and she nodded, continuing on her way.

She let herself into the apartment quietly, but all five of her friends were waiting for her.  Padmé was dressed in a simple gown instead of her robes of office, and her face was bare.  The others wore their own clothes too, and Sabé's heart fell.

"Where were you?" Padmé asked abruptly.  Sabé looked down at her, then silently moved past them into her own room to change.  Glancing at each other, the five followed.  

As Sabé pulled off the heavy over-dress, she noticed with concern that her under-tunic had been ripped slightly.  Facing away from the handmaidens and queen, she hoped they didn't notice it, but they did.  As she pulled on a pair of leggings and a tunic, Rabé moved to pick up the under tunic.

"How did this get ripped, Sabé?" she asked softly.  Sabé spun around to see the fabric, snatching it away from the younger girl.  She inspected the rip, then dropped the tunic onto the bed.  "It can be mended," she said dully.  "It doesn't matter."

"The Jedi talked to you, didn't they, Sabé?" Padmé asked softly.  Sabé froze, and looked up at her queen.  "Obi-Wan told me you knew about it," she said distantly.  She shrugged, pulling her hair from its clasp and running a brush quickly through it before retying it in a simple plait that hung down below her waist.  She turned back to the girls.  "Would you mind?" she asked pointedly.  No one moved.  Sabé rolled her eyes, and stalked past them into the main room.

"Where were you, Sabé?" Yané demanded.  Sabé didn't look at any of them.  "Jedi Kenobi said you fell asleep in his room," Eirtaé put in.  "Is that true?"

Sabé turned back to meet their eyes finally.  "Yes," she said at last.  "That's true."  True enough, she added in her mind.  "I needed to talk to him.  I guess I was just very tired."

"You were asleep for the whole day," Saché tartly reminded her.  "You can't have been that tired."  Sabé turned away from them.  Saché's eyes widened.  "Oh no.  No, no, no, Sabé, tell me you didn't!"  She crossed the room to roughly turn Sabé so that she was facing the other five.  A blush was spreading across Sabé's face, and the others quickly realised what Saché was talking about.

"Oh, Gods," Yané murmured.  Her face was a perfect picture of shock and incredulity.  Next to her, Eirtaé's hand was at her mouth as she gaped at Sabé.  Rabé sank to sit on a couch near her, limp, and Saché broke away from Sabé to join Rabé.  Padmé moved forward to lift Sabé's chin so the two were eyes to eye.

"Did you sleep with Obi-Wan?" Padmé asked, her voice soft.  Sabé closed her eyes.  "No," she said firmly.  "I did not."  Eirtaé gave an audible sigh of relief.  "I made love with Obi-Wan."  Eirtaé joined the other two on the couch.  "Not that I think it's any of your business," Sabé told them all harshly.  "I was told that you needed me, your highness, but if you do not, I need to take a walk to think.  I may need some Jedi training, and I need to decide if that's what I want."  Then she stormed out.

Padmé sat limply on a chair.  "Oh, Sabé," she groaned.  

*********************************************


	7. The Story of a Thief - part 7

Sabé sat limply in the garden Chrissie Bligh Normal Chrissie Bligh 1 47 2001-11-02T14:48:00Z 2001-11-02T15:39:00Z 14 4901 27938 HP 232 55 34309 9.2720 Print 75 

Sabé sat limply in the garden.  She hadn't mean to snap at the others like that, she thought ruefully.  But it really wasn't any of their business.  She sighed, and twirled her fingers in the still water of a pond that was situated next to her.  She heard a noise and looked up to see a Jedi coming towards her – one of the ones she didn't know.

"May I sit?" she Jedi woman asked politely.  Fed up with being polite, Sabé shrugged and turned back to stare at the water.  "I am Adi Gallia; I've been sent to see whether you wish to come for a mid-chlorien count."

Sabé looked up at her again, noting the dark skin and white head…things that the Jedi had.  She looked back down at the water again.  "I'm not ready," she said shakily.  Adi Gallia moved to sit next to her on the grass.

"Are you alright?" she asked carefully.  Sabé gave her a sarcastic look.  "Can't Jedi read minds?" she asked coolly.  "Why ask me that when it's obvious I'm not?"

"Would you be comfortable telling me about it?" the Jedi inquired.  Sabé looked back up at her, measuring her with a look.  "Have you ever been in love?" she asked suddenly.  Silently, Adi Gallia shook her head.  "I think I am," Sabé explained quietly.  "But I don't know.  And I snapped at my friends."

"Why did you snap at them?" Adi asked softly.  Sabé shrugged.  "They were poking about in my business," she explained.  "They always do that – ever since…"  She looked down.  "Ever since I killed my mother," she finished quietly.  To her credit, Adi Gallia exhibited no surprise, and she didn't say anything about it.

"Who is it you think you're in love with?" she asked instead.  Sabé looked up at her, meeting the dark eyes.  "You don't know?" she asked dryly.  "I would have thought you would."

Adi realised with a sickening of her heart.  "Obi-Wan Kenobi," she murmured.  Sabé nodded.  "And he'll go, and I have my duties here," the handmaiden muttered.  "And besides that, there's so much else to keep us apart."

"Is he in love with you?" Adi asked carefully.  Sabé nodded.  "He said he is," she admitted.  There was a noise, and she raised her eyes to see another Jedi approach – Depa Billaba.

"Mistress Gallia," the Jedi bowed.  Adi rose and bowed in return.  "Are you ready, Lady Sabé?" she asked the girl.  Sabé sighed and stood.  "Might as well," she muttered.  A rustling in the bushes caught her attention, and she turned to see the leaves waving slightly in the breeze.  She frowned…something was wrong, but she couldn't put her finger on it.  And if the Jedi didn't sense anything, she told herself, it couldn't be anything.

She moved to walk between the Jedi Mistresses, and another sound caught her ear, and she turned to glimpse a dark shadow slipping between the bushes.

"Shazit," she cursed, wishing she'd thought to bring her blaster or a knife with her.  As it was, she was barefooted, and neither of the Jedi with her was carrying a lightsaber.  

As the two Jedi turned to her inquiringly, she put a finger to her lips.  "There's someone in the bushes," she mouthed.  Depa frowned, and turned her concentration on the place Sabé indicated.  A moment later, three dark figures leapt from the bushes and grabbed Sabé.

Sabé yelled, and tried to get away, but her captors had her in a firm grip.  Depa Billaba raised a hand and shoved one of them away from her, but before anything more could be done, the other two had Sabé into the bushes and over the wall, which Sabé realised with dread was lower at that place.

She was bundled into a transport, and a blindfold was placed on her.  "Who are you?" Sabé demanded angrily.  "What do you want?"  there was a low chuckle, and a familiar voice spoke close to her ear.  "Why, Sabé, I'm surprised at you.  Has it been so long?"  Then something hit Sabé on the side of her head, and she fell limp, unconscious.

In the palace, the Jedi had taken the man they'd caught to Captain Panaka.  The mask was ripped off him, and Panaka nodded in satisfaction.

"I should have expected you, Hick," he said with no preamble.  "Where is Sabé?" Sabé's brother, who bore little resemblance to the girl that Panaka had grown used to, chuckled slightly.  "Would I tell?" he demanded.  "I never have before – after all, I'm not a traitor."

Panaka rolled his eyes.  "Take him back to the prison," he ordered the guards.  "Same cell as before."  As Hick was led away, he looked up at the two silent Jedi.  "You saw nothing that could give us anything?" he asked, a little desperate.

"Nothing," Jedi Gallia replied calmly.  "Might I ask who that was?"  Panaka sat back in his chair and sighed.  "You know, of course, that Sabé is from a family of thieves?" he asked.  The Jedi nodded.  "The ones we'd caught, on Sabé's information, were sent to detention camps during the invasion.  Then, when everyone was set loose, they were too, presumably by mistake.  Hick," he nodded towards the door, "is Sabé's elder brother.  I assume that the others were her father and uncle."

The Jedi exchanged worried glances.  "We must return to the Council," Billaba said finally.  "Please keep us informed, Captain."  Panaka nodded, and they left, to be replaced soon afterwards by an irate Saché.

"Do you know here Sabé is?" the handmaiden demanded of Panaka.  Panaka sighed.  "You haven't heard?" he asked heavily.  Confused, Saché shook her head.  "She's been kidnapped," he explained shortly.  "By the Belacque family."

To her credit, Saché didn't show her shock in any other way than in that the blood ran from her face.  "I will inform the Queen," she managed, before turning and almost running from the room.

********************************************************************************************

Sabé groggily awoke to the realisation that she was gagged and tied to a bed.  There were no windows in the tiny room, so Sabé had no idea what time it was, or even what day it was.  She could hear voices outside the door, but she had no idea what they were saying or who they were.

Then the door slid open, and Sabé's eyes widened as she recognised her father and her uncle, Enyos.  She struggled against her bonds, but they would not move.  She narrowed her eyes, and relaxed as Enyos and Randy stood over her.

"What shall we do with her?" Enyos asked in a low voice.  Randy looked down at his daughter in disgust.  "The Queen would pay a lot to get her pet handmaiden back," he said suddenly.  "Perhaps we should send her a message."

Enyos smiled cruelly, and as Sabé made a muffled sound underneath her gag, he cuffed her sharply, sending her reeling against the wall.  "Quiet," he told her sharply.  "You've done enough damage with that tongue of yours."

Sabé calmed herself, then sent a message into the men's minds.  _I'll do more yet, you miserable old shlikcers!  She used an insult from her native dialect.  Enyos and Randy jumped._

"How did you do that?" Randy spluttered.  He quickly unbound her gag, and the first thing Sabé did was spit at him contemptuously.  He wiped the spittle of his face with a gloved hand.  "How did you do that?" he repeated.

"You never told me about my midi-chlorien count," Sabé said bitterly.  "I should have thought it was obvious."  Randy paled.  "How did you find out about that?" he rasped.  Sabé raised an eyebrow.  "And I should tell you…why, exactly?" she inquired sarcastically.  Her father reddened, and raised a hand to strike her.  Sabé winced in anticipation of the blow; Enyos stopped him.

"What does it matter _how she knows, the point is that she knows.  Calm down, for heavens' sake!" he said savagely.  Randy nodded slowly, and turned, storming from the room.  Enyos stared down at his niece for a moment more.  "You'd better hope your precious queen will pay for your safety," he warned her.  "Else I'll have no qualms about murdering you in cold blood, like you murdered Mara."_

Then he was gone.  Sabé turned to hide her face in the thin pillow as if she was crying, but in fact no tears ran down her face.  She knew better than to cry and show weakness before her relatives.  She knew where she was now – had heard sounds from outside when the door was open.  It was a city north of Theed, another of the Belacque hideouts, rarely used but still safe.

_Obi-Wan, she called as loud as she could in the safety of her own mind.  __Obi-Wan, help me.  But she got no reply, and soon drifted back into unconsciousness._

Fifty miles away, Obi-Wan Kenobi looked up from braiding Anakin Skywalker's padawan braid and heard her.  _Sabé, he called back.  There was no answer, nor could he feel even the faintest of echoes from her call.  She was far away then._

Anakin turned around, his face worried.  "Master?" he asked softly.  Obi-Wan looked back down at his new padawan and forced himself to smile.  "It's alright, Anakin," he reassured the boy.  "Let's finish this off, then I must speak with the Council."  Not satisfied, but accepting his master's word, Anakin returned to his original position and sat impatiently as Obi-Wan finished the braid and tied it with a coloured thread.

"Off you go," he told the boy, smiling at him.  Anakin beamed back, and ran off somewhere.  Obi-Wan rose, and swiftly left his rooms to seek out the Council.

He found them in the gardens, talking quietly about something or other.  As Obi-Wan approached and bowed, they all turned expectantly to him, predicting that this was about Anakin…again.

Except Yoda.  The small Jedi Master shuffled forward to greet Obi-Wan, watching him shrewdly.  "About Skywalker, this is not," he muttered.  

"No, my Master," Obi-Wan agreed.  "I have had a mind call from Sabé."  Adi Gallia looked sharply at him, and as Obi-Wan met her eyes he realised that she knew something about Sabé and himself.

"From where?" Master Mace asked then, and Obi-Wan transferred his attention to the Master.  "I'm not sure," Obi-Wan admitted.  "It was very faint, and from far away.  I think it was from the north, but that's all I was able to get."

Yoda nodded.  "Then to the north, we will start our search."  He looked straight at Obi-Wan.  "A sample of her blood, we have tested, Knight Kenobi.  A high count, she has.  Not good, this is."

"Yes, my Master," Obi-Wan muttered.  "Thank you for telling us," Mace told him.  Obi-Wan nodded.  "May the Force be with you."  Obi-Wan bowed and left them.  Detaching herself from the group, Adi Gallia walked with him.

"Strange that you felt her call and we did not," the Jedi mused as she matched his stride pace for pace.  A smile was on her face as she glanced at the young knight, and Obi-Wan smiled slightly.  "Not so strange, Mistress," he contradicted her.  "But you knew that."

Adi nodded, and stopped walking to face him.  Obi-Wan stopped too, turning to watch her.  "She is in love with you, Obi-Wan," the Mistress said softly.  "Do you return her love?"

"I do," Obi-wan nodded.  Adi nodded thoughtfully.  "This complicates things," she thought aloud.  "But perhaps it is for the best."  She flashed him her rare smile.  "It is not many who find love at so young an age, Knight Kenobi," she told him softly.  "You are indeed lucky."  Then she returned to the Council, leaving Obi-Wan to continue alone.

*********************************************

The door swung open again, and Sabé looked up to see one of her younger cousins enter her cell with a tray of food.  She struggled to sit up, and the girl, Mira, unbound her hands so that she could eat.

Sabé took the tray with a muttered word of thanks.  Mira sat silently watching her as Sabé ate the meagre food – no knife, she noted with disappointment but not much surprise.  Then Sabé looked up again.

"Thank you, Mira," she said softly.  "How are you?"  Mira rose, her face bitter.  "You ask me that?" she demanded.  "When you put my parents in jail?"  She bound Sabé's hands again, and took the tray, flouncing from the room.

Sabé sat back against the wall with a sigh.  Her legs were starting to feel cramped from lack of movement, and the small room was starting to heat up with the sun that Sabé realised must be reaching its noon position.

_Obi-Wan, she called again, not really expecting an answer.  __Obi-Wan, can you hear me?  For a long moment she felt nothing, then a flicker of movement at his end of the bond._

_Sabé? she heard, his voice sounding as if he was right next to her instead of fifty miles away.  __Sabé, where are you?_

_Meda, she sent back quickly.  __Fifty miles north of Theed.  It's on Redgrave Street, a large white house.  Hurry, Obi-Wan!___

_I'll be there as soon as I can.  Already the voice was fading, but Sabé felt warmed by even that little._

Then the door swung open again, and Randy and Enyos came in.  Sabé glared at them until she noticed that her father held a small child in his arms.

"She's new," she murmured.  She raised her eyes to meet her father's.  "Whose is she?"  Randy grinned cruelly.  "We call her Callé," he told her.  "After her great-grandmother."

"Whose is she?" Sabé demanded again, horror in her heart as she touched upon a dangerous possibility…that her parents had lied to her yet again.  Enyos chuckled.  "Just like you to not recognise your own daughter," he remarked.  Sabé paled and sat utterly still for three seconds.  

Then she began struggling against her bonds, calling her relatives every name she knew in Naboo dialects, and several in various other languages.  When she finally subsided and gasped for breath, Randy laughed.

"You told me she'd died," Sabé managed finally.  A single tear fell from her eyes; she cursed it even as it fell.  "Yet another lie, right, Dad?"  Enyos and Randy exchanged bored looks.  "Of course we lied, Sabé," Enyos told her.  "You were already starting to disobey us.  While you grieved for your child, we still controlled you."

They rose and started to leave.  Sabé, leaning against the wall, her eyes closed, managed a request.  "May I hold her?"

Randy paused.  He glanced down at the small girl laughing in his arms.  He looked up and met Enyos's eyes.  He shrugged, and moved to untie Sabé's hands, handing her the child.  Then the two men left.

Sabé carefully shifted the child so that she was more comfortable, and carefully brushed a finger over the chubby cheek.

"I guess you're nearly one, huh?" she murmured to the girl.  "Callé – my little Callé."  Another tear fell, but she wiped it away so that it didn't fall on the girl.  Bright green eyes stared up at her, a reminder of the man who'd raped her when she was only fifteen.  Brown fluffy hair covered Callé's head, and a beaming smile captured Sabé's heart.  She moved to touch wonderingly the small fingers, and Callé caught her finger, holding it tightly.  She gurgled and laughed, and Sabé couldn't help but laugh with her.

*********************************************

Less than three hours later, Royal Guards swarmed the Belacque safe house.  Most of the family were there, and the raid was the most successful yet.  As Panaka and Obi-Wan frantically searched the house for Sabé, Enyos was wrenching Callé from Sabé's grasp.

He ran from the room scant minutes before Obi-Wan found her.  "Obi-Wan, get me out of these," Sabé told him, indicating her bonds.  Her withdrew his lightsaber and cut them carefully, drawing her into an embrace, which she relaxed into for a moment then moved from.

"Where is he?!" she seethed, moving from the room like a thunderbolt.  Obi-Wan followed, worried.  He followed her as she searching all over the house, finally finding Panaka.

"Sabé, you're safe!" Panaka exclaimed.  His relief showed on his face, and Sabé took a split second to wonder at it.  "My uncle, where is he?" she demanded.  He frowned.  "Which uncle?" he queried.  Sabé made an impatient noise.  "Enyos," she enlarged.

"He's downstairs," said another guard nearby.  "We just caught him – he has a child.  Can you identify her, Lady Sabé?"  Sabé almost collapsed into Obi-Wan's arms.  "Callé," she managed.  "My daughter."

Dead silence ruled.  Sabé, her numb legs finally giving out on her, leant heavily on Obi-Wan to remain standing, and he helped her gently.  Panaka, glancing between the two, realised exactly where Sabé had been the night before, and narrowed his eyes.

"Come on," he said, a little roughly.  "Let's get out of here."  Sabé nodded, and managed to stand and walk from the house.

The family were kneeling in a guarded group outside, their hands on their heads and murder in their eyes.  As Sabé wearily stepped from the house, a murmur went through them.

A guard was holding Callé gently, and Sabé carefully took her child from him, thanking him in a low voice.  Then she turned to glance at Enyos and Randy.  She met their eyes, then turned away, discarding them.  She followed Panaka into the transport, Obi-Wan after her, and sat down wearily.

"Your daughter?" Obi-Wan asked softly.  Sabé smiled softly down at Callé, who was looking up at Obi-Wan with a giggle.  "It's a long story," she replied.  She rested her head on Obi-Wan's shoulder, and he put an arm around her.  "I'll tell you later."  Then she closed her eyes and dozed.

When they arrived at the palace, Sabé refused to go to the med. centre to be checked over, insisting that she wasn't hurt.  Panaka and Obi-Wan exchanged amused glances over her head as she wrapped the blanket closer around her child.  

"I'd better go see Padmé," Sabé murmured then, lifting her head to meet Obi-Wan's gaze.  "Oh – except I was supposed to be having a midi-chlorien test…"

"They managed to get a sample of your blood from the med. centre," Obi-Wan told her, hiding a smile.  "Go see Padmé."  Sabé nodded, and moved off.  Obi-Wan's face grew slightly grave, and he turned to Panaka.

"Did you know she had a child?" he inquired.  Panaka shook her head silently.  "I don't think even she did," he commented, watching the fast disappearing girl.

Sabé quietly keyed the door open to the Queen's apartments.  She didn't expect anyone to be in there – Padmé should be in the throne room with her handmaidens, after all, but when she entered the rooms, Padmé, Eirtaé and Rabé were all there, getting Padmé's hair changed for another dress.

They looked up and stared.  Sabé smiled slightly, and raised her eyebrows when nothing was said.

"Sabé!" Eirtaé exclaimed at last.  "You're safe!"  Sabé shrugged carefully.  "I was always safe," she explained.  "They wouldn't harm me.  But they might have hurt…"  She trailed off, looking down at her sleeping daughter.  

"Who's that, Sabé?" Padmé asked, standing and coming to greet her friend.  She looked down at the little girl, and saw Sabé's soft smile.   "Padmé, this is Callé," she introduced.  Padmé met Sabé's eyes.  "Sabé," she murmured.  "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"If she is, she has some explaining to do," Rabé spoke up, moving to stand next to Padmé.  Sabé stared at her.  "It's none of your business, Rabé," she said, quietly but clearly.  "Neither is my relationship with Obi-Wan, or my whole life for that matter."  She carefully gave Callé to Padmé, who held the child in wonder.  "I have had enough of all you poking into my affairs."

She turned to Padmé, who was looking less surprised about this than the other two were.  "I'm sorry Padmé, but it's the truth.  I'm seventeen, not a kid like Yané.  I can take care of myself."

"I know you can," Padmé replied softly.  "I never for a moment thought you couldn't.  We just care about you, that's all, Sabé."  Sabé's face relaxed slightly as Padmé carefully handed back the tiny child.  "Now, why don't you sit down, and you can tell us exactly how you were kidnapped."  Sabé's eyes met Padmé's twinkling ones, and they sat down together on the couch.  Eirtaé and Rabé moved to sit on the floor next to them.

"May I – may I hold her?" Eirtaé asked, almost timidly.  Sabé nodded, and held out the child.  Eirtaé took her with wonder on her face.  "You know, it's times like this I'm reminded how much older than me you are, Sabé," the blonde handmaiden gave a chuckle.  Sabé sighed.  "Not that much older," she reminded her.  "I've just…lived a lot."

*********************************************

Adi Gallia and Sabé made their way through the palace halls to where the Jedi Council was meeting for the last time this evening.  The following day was the Celebration Day, and the Jedi were anxious to speak to Sabé before then, as they would be leaving at some point during the day.

Callé was under the watchful eyes of Yané, Rabé, Saché, Eirtaé and Padmé, all of whom were utterly infatuated with Sabé's surprise daughter – not that Sabé herself could claim to feel any different, she reminded herself with a smile as Adi motioned for her to enter the antechamber were the Jedi had congregated.

Twelve Jedi, including Adi Gallia, where seated around a table.  Mace Windu motioned for Sabé to sit at a gap at the table, and she did so, shivering slightly in the thin handmaiden robe she was wearing.  

"We were able to test your blood for midi-chloriens when you were kidnapped," the dark-skinned Jedi told her.  She nodded silently.  "It is indeed very high."

"Leave one of us with you, we will, if you wish training," Yoda spoke up.  Sabé looked over at the Jedi Master, struggling with a decision.

"I don't know," she confessed softly.  "I have responsibilities, obligations…"

"You speak of your child," Ki-Adi-Mundi observed.  Sabé looked quickly at him then nodded.  "You did not know of her existence."

"My parents hid her existence from me so that I would continue to work for them," she explained levelly.  She met Adi Gallia's eyes.  "Just as they hid my Force-potential from me," she finished softly.

The Jedi looked at each other, conferring silently, and Sabé sat back in the chair, waiting their comments.  

"Mistress Gallia has volunteered to remain to train you, if you wish it," Mace said at last.  "Considering your age, it would not be thorough Jedi training, but considering your midi-chlorien count, it would be beneficial for you to have at least partial training."

"And it wouldn't interfere with my handmaiden duties, or my responsibilities to Callé?" Sabé inquired.  Adi Gallia shook her head.  "Fine, then.  I'll do it."

Yoda chuckled at her words, and it wasn't until days later that she understood why.  For now, she was content to frown slightly and take her leave.

She walked through the halls again, taking a moment before she returned to her room.  She saw Panaka talking to one of the courtiers, and wheeled around, wanting to avoid him.  Obi-Wan stood in front of her.  She smiled.

"Obi-Wan, what are you doing here?"  The words came out as slightly accusing, and she winced.  "I'm sorry, I just meant…"

"I know what you meant," Obi-Wan smiled softly.  "Can I talk to you?"  He indicated the window seat near them.  "Sure," Sabé agreed, slightly puzzled.  "What's wrong?"

"You didn't tell me you have a child."  Sabé closed her eyes, for a moment wishing the situation away.  Then she opened them again.  "I didn't tell you because I didn't know," she explained softly.  

"How can you not know you have a child, Sabé?" he demanded.  She turned to gaze blankly out at the darkening city of Theed.  "I was raped," she said calmly.  He stiffened.  "It's alright, Obi-Wan, I got over it a long time ago.  But the result was, I was pregnant.  I didn't want to give my baby up, so I carried her to full term.  It was a difficult birth, and by the time I regained consciousness they told me that my child was dead."  She turned her eyes to him, and he was taken aback with the blank-ness in them.  "They hid her from me, Obi-Wan.  They hid her from me for eleven months.  My own daughter."

"Are you angry with them?" he asked quietly after a moment.  She shrugged.  "Why expend the energy?" she asked rhetorically.  "I have her back now, and that's what counts."  She glanced down at her chronometer.  "Speaking of, I really have to get back."  She stood, and turned back to look down at him.  

"What?" he asked, when she didn't speak for moments.  She half-smiled, her eyes dancing a little.  "Just enjoying the view," she whispered.  She leant down and pressed her lips against his, relaxing for a few short moments before she moved away from him.  "I'll see you sometime," she whispered into his ear.  He smiled, and she hurried away.  Obi-Wan looked up to meet Panaka's cold, measuring gaze.  Then the Captain moved away, and Obi-Wan hurried off to find his padawan, thoughtful.  

Sabé returned to the queen's quarters, and was practically chased into her own room by the five who were looking after her daughter.  As Saché put a dress, that was obviously one of her own, on the bed, Sabé loudly demanded what was going on.

"We're looking after Callé for the evening," Saché told her airily, running a brush through Sabé's hair.  "You're busy."

"Busy doing what?" Sabé asked suspiciously.  "I was actually hoping to spend some time with my daughter, you know, get to know her?"

"Plenty of time for that tomorrow, and the day after that, and the weeks and months after that," Rabé told her sternly, breezing in to take the brush from Saché.  She held a basket of hair ornaments, and Sabé frowned.  "Those are Padmé's," she murmured.  "What are you doing with my hair and Padmé's things?  And what's with the dress?"

"You'll see," Yané breezed, helping Rabé comb Sabé's hair into several different sections.  They started plaiting each section, quickly finishing one then moving onto another.  Sabé rolled her eyes.

"Need any help?" Eirtaé asked, peering around the door.  Rabé shook her head silently, concentrating on winding the five plaits around the crown of Sabé's head, carefully combing the rest of her hair so it practically crackled.  She carefully braided tiny sections of it, intertwining silver and blue beads and ribbons into the brown hair.

"Okay, what is going on here?" Sabé demanded again.  Yané and Rabé exchanged secretive glances but didn't reply.  "Okay, done," Rabé said at last.  "Get into your dress, you don't have much time."

"Much time for what?" Sabé cried.  Padmé hurried in, shooing the other three away.  "Go play with Callé," she told them with a smile.  "I'll help Sabé with the dress."  Yané, Rabé and Saché nodded, leaving Sabé's room.

"No, I'm not telling you what's going on," Padmé smiled at her handmaiden.  "It wasn't our idea, we're just going along with it."

"Along with what?" Sabé cried in frustration.  She stood, her hair moving with her.  Padmé's eyes twinkled.  "You'll see," she promised.  "Gods, Sabé, your hair is longer than mine!"  Sabé shrugged.  "I'm thinking of having it cut," she said in a bored voice.  Padmé's eyes widened, and she took a step towards Sabé.  "Sabé, don't you dare cut it off!" she protested.  "It's gorgeous!"  She picked the dress up from the bed.  "Come on," she commanded.  "Get that robe off.  We don't have much time."

Resignedly, Sabé pulled her handmaiden dress off and took the robe Padmé handed her, surveying it critically.  "You don't have a choice in this," Padmé warned her.  Sabé glared, sighed, and carefully pulled the soft fabric over her head.

The full skirt of the dress flared as the top half of the dress slipped snugly onto Sabé's body.  Padmé tightened the strings of the bodice slightly, tying them into a simple knot, and smoothed the tight sleeves on Sabé's arms.  Sabé moved to the mirror, the dress rustling as she moved.  

"Wow," she murmured.  The dark blue skirt flared from her waist, and the silver bodice was topped by a sewn-in blue overcoat, which was embroidered in white thread.  The arms were tight on her skin , ending at the wrist, and the neck was just right, edged in silver.  The silver and blue in her hair glistened, matching perfectly.

"Wow," she said again.  Padmé moved behind her, surveying her critically.  "You'll do," she murmured, but her eyes showed how impressed she was.  "Oh, shoes," she cried suddenly, and darted from the room, returning an instant later with soft blue slippers, which Sabé slipped on quickly.  

"Do I get to know what's going on now?" she asked, turning to face Padmé.  Padmé shook her head.  "You'll see," she insisted again.  Sabé rolled her eyes, and followed her queen into the main room.

The handmaidens looked up from where they were watching Callé play with some blocks, and grinned at the girl.  "You look good," Saché approved.  "Better than I look in that gown, anyway."

Sabé rolled her eyes, and dropped carefully to her knees to be nearer her daughter.  Callé beamed at her, holding out her arms, and Sabé lifted her carefully into them.  "My daughter," she murmured.  "My Callé."

"Careful, you'll spoil your dress!" Yané admonished, taking Callé from her.  "You just want to hold her," Rabé ribbed her.  Yané blushed, but didn't deny it.

Then the doorchime rang.  Padmé looked up, excitement evident in her face.  "Okay, Eirtaé, answer it," she ordered, striving for calm.  "Sabé, come here."  Obediently, Sabé rose and stood before her queen, facing away from the door.  Padmé held up a blindfold, and Sabé frowned slightly before her eyes were covered by the thick velvet material.

"Padmé!" she protested.  The girl chuckled, and turned her around.  "She's all yours," Sabé heard her say.  "Just bring her back in one piece."

Whoever it was didn't reply, and the last thing Sabé heard was all five of the girls laughing at her.

"What's going on?" she demanded, as she was led into the corridor and the door slid shut behind her.  "Who are you?"  She heard a soft chuckle, and identified it in an instant.  "Obi-Wan!  What's going on?"

"You'll see," came the cryptic reply.  Sabé shook her head, bemused, and allowed him to lead her through the palace.  "Where are we going?" she asked after a while.  She felt Obi-Wan smile, but he didn't answer.  A moment later she felt a breeze on her skin, and she frowned slightly.  Then she was outdoors, and her slippered feet were walking on stone.

"Where are we going?" she repeated.  Obi-Wan laughed at her.  "We'll be there soon," he told her.  "You'll have to wait until then."  She pouted, and he stopped her, moving so he was in front of her, pressing a kiss to her lips.  "Soon," he promised.  Sabé nodded reluctantly, and he took her arm again, guiding her.

Soon they could hear the sound of water rushing past them, and Sabé paused.  "The waterfalls?" she demanded.  "How come we're near the waterfalls?"  Obi-Wan chuckled again.  Then he hesitated.  "I need to carry you for a bit, Sabé," he told her.  "Okay," she said slowly.  He lifted her off her feet, and she squealed slightly.  She managed to get her arms around his neck, and leant her head against his chest.  

She could feel them descending stairs, and she frowned again.  "Where _are we?" she demanded yet again.  Obi-Wan didn't answer, and soon he carefully placed her on the ground._

"Not long now," he promised.  He led her across grass, then paving, then grass again, and then branches brushed her face.  Sabé could smell candle wax, and she frowned again.  "Where are we?" she demanded.  Obi-Wan halted her.  

"Courtesy of her highness," he murmured, untying her blindfold.  Sabé gazed around in wonder at the clearing.  A small offshoot of the river ran through it, and a blanket lay on the ground, laid for a meal.  Candles flickered all around, and the waterfalls could be distantly heard through the sweet-smelling trees.  Obi-Wan stood behind her as she took a step forward, taking it all in, then turned back to him.

"You did all this for me?" she asked, hardly daring believe it.  He nodded, a little embarrassed, and she launched herself into his arms.  "I love you," she murmured into his ear.  He smiled at her.  "I love you too," he replied softly.  For a moment, Sabé thought he was going to kiss her, then he nodded at the blanket.  "Food's getting cold," he reminded her.  She smiled, and let him lead her to sit by the blanket.

They ate and talked, talked about inconsequential things and serious things alike.  There were long moments where they just looked at each other, then one or other of them would blush slightly, and look down at their plate.

Finally the meal was over, and Obi-Wan moved around to hold Sabé as they lay gazing up at the stars.

"I don't know which are which from here," he murmured.  Sabe giggled.  "You mean all that Jedi knowledge and you don't know that?" she teased.  He raised an eyebrow.  "So enlighten me," he suggested.  Sabé hesitated for a moment, then looked back up at the sky.

"That's Coruscant," she said, pointing out one of the brightest in the sky.  "And…Alderaan.  That one over there is Malastare."  She looked over the stars again.  "There's the twin suns of Tatooine," she pointed.  She felt Obi-Wan plant a kiss on her neck; she turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised.  "You're not listening," she accused.

"I'm enjoying the view," he replied in a low voice, that made Sabé wriggle in his arms so she was facing him.  She suddenly needed to know why he had done this.

"You're leaving tomorrow, aren't you?" she demanded quietly.  He met her eyes for a moment, then nodded.  "Is that why you did all this?"

"Partly," he sighed.  "But I wanted to do something for you, Sabé.  You had a really weird day, as I recall."  Sabe stifled a giggle.  "I did indeed," she agreed.  She looked down for a moment, then looked back up at him.  "What's going to happen to us?" she asked.  

"What do you want to happen?" he asked softly.  She shrugged.  "I don't want to lose you," she told him.  "But we both have duties…obligations."  "Let's not think about that now," Obi-Wan urged.  "We have tomorrow to think about that in."

Sabé smiled suddenly.  "Plus we have all evening," she pointed out.  "It would be shame to waste it talking when there are so many other things we could be doing."

*********************************************


	8. The Story of a Thief - part 8

It was nearly dawn when Sabé and Obi-Wan reluctantly returned to the palace Chrissie Bligh Normal Chrissie Bligh 1 1 2001-11-02T15:39:00Z 2001-11-02T15:43:00Z 11 3683 20998 HP 174 41 25787 9.2720 Print 75 

It was nearly dawn when Sabé and Obi-Wan reluctantly returned to the palace.  They parted ways with a kiss, and Sabé walked quietly through the empty, echoing halls.

She winced when she realised that the guard on duty outside the queen's quarters was Panaka.  He met her eyes with cool accusation, and she paused.

"You can't tell me how to live my life, Captain," she told him, her voice hard.  He sighed.  "Sabé, two nights in a row," he reminded her.  "And what about your daughter?"

"I didn't know what was going on, okay?" she hissed.  "And Callé was fine with the Queen and the others.  And yes, two nights in a row.  I'm allowed to live my own life, Captain.  I'm not a child any more."

"If you ever were," he murmured.  She was hurt by that, he saw it in her eyes.  "I'm sorry, Sabé, it's just…I don't want to see you getting hurt."

"People always get hurt somehow or other, Mark!" she reminded him harshly, using his first name, something she rarely did.  "I don't need you to act like my father.  I can make my own decisions."  She met his eyes, and it hit her, like a ten tonne weight.  "Oh, Gods," she murmured.  She raised a hand when he moved to speak.  "No!" she said sharply.  "I just…I can't hear it.  I can't!"  She moved past him hurriedly, keying the door open and locking it behind her.  Then she fell to her knees, leaning heavily against the door.

Eirtaé, the only one up at that early hour, had looked up when Sabé had come in and now rushed to her side.  "Sabé, what is it?  Did Obi-Wan say something?  What happened?"

Sabé looked at the blue-eyed girl, and gripped her hand.  "Did you know that Mark Panaka is in love with me?" she managed.  Eirtaé's gaze fell to the floor as she studiously avoided Sabé's eyes.  "You did, didn't you?" Sabé demanded.  Eirtaé nodded.

"I did," she said softly.  "It's obvious, Sabé – the way he looks at you, the way he's always looked at you and looked out for you."

"Do the others know?" Sabé gasped.  Eirtaé shrugged.  "I know Saché and Yané do," she admitted.  "We've talked about it a little.  But I'm not sure whether Rabé and Padmé know."

Sabé took a deep breath, then another.  "Great ending to a perfect night," she groaned.  She stood shakily, and moved through to her bedroom.  Eirtaé stopped her with a hand.

"Sabé, don't hurt him," Eirtaé pleaded slightly.  "He really is in love with you, and you've only known Obi-Wan for a matter of days."  Sabé sighed.  "I can't help my feelings," she reminded Eirtaé.  Impulsively, she put her arms around her friend and hugged her.  Eirtaé returned the hug, then drew away.

"Get some rest," she advised.  "It's going to be a long day."  Sabé smiled faintly.  "Thanks, 'Taé," she replied softly.  Then she moved into her bedroom, removing her dress and sliding between the cool sheets.  She didn't hear the door open as Eirtaé went to speak with Panaka, and she didn't hear Rabé and Yané look in on her several hours later.

Finally Padmé moved into the room to wake her.  Sabé had been crying, the queen noticed with distress, and as she gently shook Sabé, she realised that Sabé hadn't bothered fully undress.

"Padmé?" Sabé murmured, half-awake.  She sat up in bed, running at her eyes.  "Oh…I guess I'd better get up, right?"  Padmé smiled.  "Right," she agreed.  "You'll need to be there for the parade, but then you can do what you want for the rest of the day, okay?"

"Thank you, Padmé," Sabé said softly.  "For today, and for helping arrange last night."  Padmé smiled gently.  "Hey, you're my friend," she reminded her.  "It's the least I could do."

For a moment they looked at each other, then Sabé crawled out of bed.  "Which dress?" she asked with a sigh.  Sabé smothered a laugh.  "The green one," she replied.  "You know, with the hood?"  Sabé nodded.  "Right," she murmured.  "The nice one that I can wear whilst still breathing."  Padmé chuckled and left, leaving Sabé to rummage through her closet for the gown in question.

She eventually found it, and replacing her undergarments with fresh ones, she pulled on first the light green underdress and then the darker overdress and brushed her hair before tying it back and pulling up her hood.

Then her hands stilled, and she lifted her hand so the light caught on the mother-of-pearl Promise Ring that Obi-Wan had given her the night before.  Although she wasn't supposed to wear jewellery with her gowns, Sabé decided to leave it on.

She pulled on the leather boots that went with the gown, and moved into the main area, where the other five, in various states of dress, were running around panicking.  Smiling slightly, Sabé leant and picked up Rabé's boot, throwing it at her, then moved to pick up her daughter, who lay in a crib at the window.

"Morning, Callé," she greeted softly, ignoring Rabé's outraged cry at receiving a boot in the face.  "And how are we today?"  Callé gurgled happily, and Sabé smiled, gently picking the child up.  

"Mmuh," Callé laughed, batting Sabé's nose, none too gently.  Sabé's eyes lit up.  "What was that, Callé?" she asked softly.  What did you just say?"  But Callé wouldn't repeat the sound, and soon Sabé had to reluctantly place Callé back into the crib.

"Sabé," Yané called.  "Have you seen my boots?"  Sabé rolled her eyes.  "Try under your bed," she suggested.  "Where you left them last."  Yané nodded slightly, rushing to her room.  

"Yané!" Saché shrieked.  "You're wearing my hood!"  She disappeared after the younger girl, and Sabé winced as the loud noise caused Callé to start wailing.

Years of looking after younger siblings and cousins gave Sabé the insight on what to do.  She picked up Callé and gently jogged her, walking about the room and speaking to her softly until she calmed.  Then she put her back in the crib and turned on the five who were staring at her, looking as though they were scared for their lives.

"Callé is young," Sabé told them all clearly.  "Too much noise will make her shriek.  Too much noise will make me shriek, for that matter.  Can you all be quiet?  If you have a problem, sort it out _quietly."  Then she turned back to Callé._

Yané noticed a ring glinting on Sabé's finger, and felt that she should speak up – wanting a little to get back at Sabé for the lecture.  

"Sabé, you know we aren't allowed jewellery," she said sternly.  Sabe's gaze flew to the ring on her finger, and she blushed slightly.  "Padmé, may I keep it on?" she asked quietly.  The room fell silent again.  

"Why?" Padmé felt compelled to ask.  She put the finishing touches to her makeup and turned to the handmaiden.  She looked at the ring, gasped, and moved across to seize Sabé's hand and hold the ring up so she could see it.  "A Promise Ring.  Obi-Wan gave you a Promise Ring?"

Sabé blushed, and met Eirtaé's eyes silently.  Then she looked back at Padmé.  "Yes," she replied softly.  "He did."  She turned back to Callé.  "Come on, little one," she smiled.  "Let's get you to the crèche."

She picked her daughter up, and left the room amid stares.  She blushed slightly as she moved through the door, and looked up in surprise as Adi Gallia halted right in front of her.

"Oh," she said, surprised.  "Mistress Gallia."  Adi smiled.  "Is this Callé?" she asked in her musical voice.  Sabé nodded, and drew the blanket back from Callé's face so the Jedi could see.  "She's very beautiful," Adi smiled.  "And remarkable colouring."  Sabé nodded, cool suddenly.  "Yes," she agreed.  "But if you'll excuse me, I must get her to the crèche for the parade."

"I was just coming to ask whether you would like to start your training tonight?" Adi inquired.  Sabé met her eyes then nodded.  "Of course," she agreed.  "I'm sure her highness won't mind – she gave me the rest of the day off, after the parade."

"I'll meet you in the gardens then," Adi said softly.  "At eight o'clock."  Then she was gone, and Sabé stared after her for a moment before moving to take her daughter to the crèche several floors below.  

"She'll be fine, Lady Sabé," the woman in charge assured her.  "Trust us."  Sabé nodded, biting her lip.  "I'll be back as soon as the parade is over," she told the woman.  "And if there're any problems -,"

"I know where to find you," the woman interrupted, her eyes twinkling.  "You're not exactly inconspicuous, Lady Sabé."  Sabé shared a glance with her before kissing Callé's forehead and leaving before she changed her mind.

She ran into Obi-Wan and Anakin one floor up, and blushed slightly as she met Obi-Wan's gaze.  She smiled at Anakin, who beamed at her.  

"Padmé's in her room, Anakin, if you want to see her before the parade," Sabé told him amusedly.  Anakin glanced up at his master, who nodded, then ran off.  Sabé smiled at Obi-Wan.  "You're a good master, Obi-Wan Kenobi," she murmured.  

"You're a good decoy, Sabé Belacque," he murmured in reply, moving to kiss her.  She put a hand on his mouth.  "Not here," she reprimanded.  "Anyone could see!"

"Anyone," Obi-Wan repeated.  "You mean Captain Panaka."  Sabé's gaze fell.  "Did everyone know he was in love with me except me?" she muttered.  Obi-Wan lifted her chin with a finger.  "But you aren't in love with him, right?" he asked anxiously.  Sabé stared at him, slightly incredulous.  "You ask me that?" she demanded softly.  "Obi-Wan, I'm wearing your Promise Ring.  I love you so much…"  Her voice cracked, and she looked down to avoid meeting his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Obi-wan murmured.  "I guess I just don't want to lose you like I lost Qui-Gon."  Sabé looked back up at him, her emotions under control.  "You're forgiven," she said firmly.  "And you're not going to loose me.  I don't die easy."

Then she left him, walking away quickly and quietly to return to her queen.  Obi-Wan stared after her until he saw Panaka exiting a room that led into the corridor.  The men locked gazes; Panaka turned away and walked down an intersecting passageway, and Obi-Wan went looking for his padawan.

*********************************************

Sabé wasn't there when Obi-Wan, Anakin and the Council left; she was collecting Callé and changing to a different robe, tighter and more uncomfortable.  Afterwards she realised that Obi-Wan had meant it to be like that, so they didn't have to say farewell, but at the time she was wholly furious with him.

Padmé, Rabé, Saché, Yané and Eirtaé wouldn't meet her eyes as she came storming in.  "You knew, didn't you?" she demanded.  "You knew he was leaving, and you didn't tell me!"

"He asked us not to," Padmé told her clearly, turning in her seat at the mirror.  Rabe rapped her head and Padmé sat straight, sighing as Rabé pulled her hair over an improbable headdress.  Sabé stared at them for a moment, then went to sit next to her dozing daughter.

"Why don't you go out, Sabé," Eirtaé suggested.  "I can look after Callé for an hour or two – you ought to have some time to yourself."  Sabé gave a dull laugh.  "I've had precious little else since I found Callé," she remarked.  "Isn't motherhood supposed to stop that?"

Yané shrugged.  "So enjoy it," she commented.  "Callé will be safe with Eirtaé, and you should have some time to yourself."

"It will do you good," Rabé spoke up softly, persuasively.  Sabé threw up her hands resignedly.  "I'll go," she agreed.  "I'll just change into something more comfortable."

She moved into her room, and allowed a tear to fall.  Then she wiped it away determinedly, and stripped herself of her gown and pulled on a simpler thigh-length tunic and matching leggings.  She dug out her knee-high boots from the closet, and tugged them on.  Leaving her hair as it was, she returned to the main room.  Padmé, Yané, Rabé and Saché were preparing to return to the celebrations, and Eirtaé was sitting comfortably beside Callé, a book in hand.

"I'll see you all later," Sabé smiled slightly, disappearing through the door.

"She needs to get out more," Saché sighed.  Padmé gave her a look.  "Every time Sabé gets out she gets hurt," the queen remarked wryly.  "I'd really prefer it if she didn't 'get out' more, Sache."

Sabé left the palace through one of the less-used side doors, looking up and down the deserted street before making her way towards the centre of Theed, where music was being played and almost all of Naboo seemed to be congregating.

As she emerged into the main street, Sabé was instantly overwhelmed by all the colours, noises, and people.  She hadn't been allowed to go to any of the other large celebrations of Theed in her life – for the Queen's coronation she had been babysitting the younger members of her family – and this was bigger than most other celebrations.

She walked slowly, savouring the smells and sights, passing row upon row of stalls and entertainment, sometimes stopping to watch jugglers, or to run her hand over a particularly bright piece of cloth or toy on a stall.

People jostled past her, laughing and smiling, and Sabé laughed to herself as she lifted herself onto a low wall, watching all of Theed pass her by.  She felt, for the first time in her life, as if she really was part of Naboo.

Then she heard an announcement from the large square to her right.  She turned on the wall to look at it, and grinned when she saw a huge banner proclaiming an acrobatics competition, to be watched by the Queen herself.

"Might as well," she murmured to herself wickedly.  She jumped from the wall and made her way across the streams of people to the square, quickly locating the woman in charge.

"I want to enter," she said by way of greeting.  The woman looked up in surprise from the clipboard she held.  "Another one?" she asked rhetorically.  "Okay, name?"

"Lady Sabé," Sabé replied.  The woman frowned slightly.  "I need your last name too, Sabé," she prompted.  Sabé raised an eyebrow.  "Just put me down as Lady Sabé," she said firmly.  The woman pursed her lips, but nodded, and scrawled the name on her form.  "Age?" she demanded.  "Seventeen," Sabé replied.  The woman raised an eyebrow.  "You look younger," she commented.  Sabé shrugged a little, self-consciously.  "Okay then, Sabé, what music would you like?"

"What do you have?" Sabé countered.  The woman rifled through her sheets of flimsi, and ripped a page out, handing it to Sabé.  Sabé read through it quickly.  "Number nine," she said at last.  "I want number nine."  The woman took the sheet back from Sabé cautiously.  "You sure about that?" she asked carefully.  "I mean, that one's really fast – no one else has chosen it, and…"

"I've used that music before," Sabé flashed her a smile.  "When am I up?"  the woman checked a chronometer.  "In about ten minutes," she replied.  "There's a waiting area through there," she nodded at a tent.  "You can watch the others, then we'll call you."

Sabé nodded and pushed through the crowds to the tent, aware of the slightly incredulous look that the woman sent after her.  Then she was in the tent.  There were at least a dozen other competitors warming up in the tent, but Sabé was content to sit down in a chair and watch them.

"Hey, don't I know you?" came a voice from next to her.  She turned, startled, to see a young girl sitting in the chair next to her.  "Aren't you one of the Queen's handmaidens?"

"Uh, yes," Sabé replied, nonplussed.  "Sabé."  The girl smiled.  "I'm Mata," she introduced herself.  "So, you're going to compete?"

"Yeah, I did some time in a circus a while back," Sabé replied.  "And I do a lot of martial arts, so I kept in shape."  She shrugged a little self-consciously.  "What about you?"

"Oh, I do gymnastics at school," Mata breezed.  "And I really love stuff like this – you know, a chance to show Naboo what I'm capable of – and the Queen's watching too!"  She seemed to back-pedal slightly.  "But you know her, don't you?"  Her bright blue eyes watched Sabé inquisitively.  

"Yes," Sabé nodded.  "I serve her."  Mata rolled her eyes.  "I guess you're under some kind of oath to not talk about it, right?"  Sabé smiled lightly.  "Something like that," she agreed.  "But anyway, her highness isn't a particularly easy person to talk about."

Mata laughed, then her laughter faltered as the first competitor was announced.  She bit her lip, and fiddled with her hair.  Sabé smiled slightly.  "The trick is, to ignore them all," she coached slightly.  "If you imagine that they aren't there, it doesn't seem half so bad."

"Aren't you afraid that you're giving away all your secrets?" Mata asked, trying to smile.  Sabé looked at her sympathetically.  "I'm not here to win," she said softly.  "I'm just here to have a good time."

Mata looked at her curiously.  "That's what it should be all about," she smiled slightly.  Then her name was called, and she rose, slightly shaky.  "Maybe I'll see you afterwards, Sabé," she said as she moved away.  Sabé nodded encouragingly to her, then leant back in her chair.

Finally her name was called, and she moved into the large square, covered in huge mats.  She was ushered into a fenced-off area to remove her boots, then she was out in the main square.

She bowed to Queen Amidala, and she could see Padmé trying her hardest not to laugh.  Then she bowed to the judges, and waited for the music to start.

As soon as the fast-paced notes started, Sabé moved.  She did a run, and dove into a forwards roll, rolling over and over until she leapt up again, instantly twisting into a backwards leap, twisting again to do a one-handed cartwheel, landing tightly on her feet to slide down into a spilt, then using her hands to twist her body up again into a handstand, walking swiftly across the mats on her hands exactly in time to the music.  Then she flipped onto her legs to cartwheel across all of the mats, turning rolls and twisting her body as the music sped up then slowed down and sped up again.

The music lasted for a full four minutes, and the crowd was captivated by her twisting body, doing things in time to the music that hardly anybody dared dance to, let alone do gymnastics to.

Then the music stopped, and Sabé ended in a split, her arms stretching towards the foot she held in front of her.  When the applause rang throughout the square, she rose and bowed to first Padmé, then the judges.  Then she moved to collect her boots.  

"Aren't you staying for the judging?" Mata asked her queerly when Sabé seemed about to leave.  Sabé shook her head.  "I told you, I don't care if I win," she reminded the girl.  "Besides, my daughter will be waiting."  She moved off, unaware of Mata's incredulous face.

Moving through the thronging crowds back to the palace, Sabé felt a wave of loneliness wash over her, along with a sense of displacement.  She brushed past people, not seeing them, and reached along her tenuous bond with Obi-Wan to feel him; she couldn't call, he was too far away already.  But his presence gave her strength, and she entered the palace calmly.

By the time she reached the Queen's rooms she had been accosted by half a dozen people congratulating her on the acrobatics competition, and Sabé was getting a headache.  She collapsed on the couch next to Eirtaé and moaned.

"You alright?" Eirtaé asked sympathetically.  Sabé moaned again.  "Remind me never to listen to your suggestions again," she replied.  "If anyone else tells me how well I did in that damn thing – which was really spontaneous, actually – I am going to scream."

Eirtaé sighed.  "You really should try to enjoy compliments," she said softly.  "They all mean well."  Sabé stared at her.  "'Taé, most times in my life when I've been complimented it's because I managed to steal something," she retorted flatly.  "Forgive me if I hate compliments now."  She raised her hands to her forehead, rubbing her temples distractedly.

"Take something for that," Eirtaé urged, closing her book.  Sabé half-nodded, then made herself rise and crawl to the cabinet at the side of the room, rummaging through it for the aspirin that she _knew was in there.  When she found it, she gulped it down dry and returned to the couch._

"Eirtaé, I need your help," she started.  Eirtaé raised an eyebrow.  "This when you've just said to remind you to never listen to my suggestions again," she remarked dryly.  Sabé glared.  "Alright, go ahead," Eirtaé threw up her hands.

"I can't be a handmaiden, a mother, and have Jedi training," Sabé whispered after a moment.  "It's too much to take on, and you all know it."  Eirtaé sighed.  "We know it," she agreed.  "We talked a little about it earlier."

"What am I going to do, 'Taé?" Sabé groaned.  "There's no way I'm giving up Callé, there's not even a question about that.  And I don't want to stop being a handmaiden…again."  
  


"What about the Jedi training?" Eirtaé asked gently.  Sabé shrugged.  "I don't know," she muttered.  "I haven't even started it – to stop would be kind of stupid.  And if my count is so high that they left a Jedi Mistress here to teach me, I don't want to stop."

Eirtaé stared at her for a long moment, then she sighed.  "Do what your heart tells you," she counselled.  "That's all I know to say."  She hesitated.  "However, I do know that Padmé and Captain Panaka," Sabé winced at his name, "Are looking to train a group of people to be…sort of a personal bodyguard to the queen."

Sabé raised an eyebrow.  "You mean like us?" she inquired.  Eirtaé looked a little shocked.  "No, of course not!  Just an additional precaution."  She fiddled with the edge of her robe.  "And since you're pretty much the best in Naboo and then some, they might ask you to train them."

"But it wouldn't be as permanent as I'd like," Sabé objected slowly.  Eirtaé shrugged.  "You never know," she observed mildly.  "They might want you to go and be a trainer at the Royal Security Academy."

Sabé pulled a face.  "Have you seen that place?" she demanded.  "It's like school, only harder."  Eirtaé grinned.  "But you'd be a trainer, not a student," she pointed out.  Sabé nodded thoughtfully, then glanced at her sleeping daughter as Callé made a noise, sighing in her sleep.

"She's really lovely," Eirtaé murmured.  Sabé nodded, agreeing.  "Where does she get her eyes?" Eirtaé inquired.  Sabé shrugged.  "I wouldn't know," she replied, her voice slightly hard.  "But it's an odd combination – brown hair and green eyes."

"It is," Eirtaé agreed.  Then the door slid open, and Saché, Yané and Rabé hurried through.  "Eirtaé, we need you," Yané said briskly.  Eirtaé nodded and rose.  Then she frowned.  "Why all three of you just to fetch me?" she inquired.  Rabé slid a glance at Sabé.

"Because we're here to escort Lady Sabé to see Queen Amidala," Saché jumped in smoothly.  She turned to Sabé, who was frowning.  "Sorry, Sabé, but after that gymnastics competition, Padmé really wanted to offer you this before someone else grabbed it."

"I'll take Callé to the crèche," Yané offered smoothly.  Sabé nodded, a little dazed, then rose as Saché and Eirtaé tugged at her arms.  Yané disappeared, carefully holding the tiny child, and Rabé fussed with Sabé's hair as they dragged her into the corridor and through the passages to the Throne Room.

There was no one there except for Padmé and Panaka, and Sabé barely met his eyes, preferring to look at Padmé.  

"Sabé, that was really incredible," Padmé enthused.  Sabé raised an eyebrow.  "You brought me here to tell me how wonderful that was?" she queried.  Padmé laughed, shaking her head, and Panaka shifted slightly.

"No, Sabé," Padmé managed at last.  "Captain Panaka and I have discussed this, and, well, we want to offer you a job."  Sabé's face didn't change at all, but her hands twisted slightly.  "A job?" she repeated slowly.  "I'm not sure I quite understand."

Eirtaé, in her place to the right of Padmé, covered her laugh with a cough.  Padmé's gaze flickered to her, uncomprehending, then returned to Sabé.  "Sabé, you've got a lot on your plate right now, and don't deny it."  Sabé nodded slowly.  "We were wondering if you wanted to take a break from being a handmaiden and become a trainer in the Royal Security Academy."  

Yané slipped in, and Eirtaé used the distraction to cough again to stop her giggle.  Sabé glanced down slightly, biting her lip in an attempt not to smile.  When she looked up again, however, her face was deadly serious.  "Why me?"

"You're the best, Sabé," Panaka spoke up for the first time.  Sabé glanced at him, their eyes meeting then sliding away from each other.  "With your skills, we could have a better group of security guards than we've had in a long time."

"When would I start?" Sabé asked slowly.  "One week," came the reply.  Sabé nodded lightly.  "Okay," she agreed.  "But it mustn't interfere with my training, or Callé."  Her eyes met Padmé's, fierce and uncompromising.

"Of course," Padmé responded, sounding shocked.  "I wouldn't dream of it being otherwise."  Sabé smiled suddenly, transforming her face,  "Good," she remarked.

She managed a curtsey to Padmé, which looked a little odd considering her tunic and leggings, and turned to walk out.  She was almost at the door when Panaka called out to her.

"You won the competition, Sabé."  Sabé stopped and half-turned to see him.  He shivered slightly when her brown eyes, which were usually so warm but now seemed cold, devoid of emotion, met his.

"Did I?" she asked vaguely.  "Poor Mata."  Then she was gone before anyone could question her about her comments.

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	9. The Story of a Thief - part 9

******************************************************************************************** Chrissie Bligh Normal Chrissie Bligh 1 2 2001-11-02T15:44:00Z 2001-11-02T15:48:00Z 9 2821 16085 HP 134 32 19753 9.2720 Print 75 

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Three years later

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Trainer-Commander Sabé Maberrie, otherwise known as Sabé Belacque, walked smartly through the deserted corridors of the Royal Security Academy towards the Recruitment office.  It was half-way through the first lesson, and she'd been called to look over the new recruits for another unit of Royal Bodyguards.

Her hair, which had been long until a few months before, was tied into a plait that hung between her shoulder blades.  Her trademark tunic and leggings were smarter than those she wore when actually training, and as such were less comfortable.

She reached the Recruitment office finally, and rapped on the old-style door before turning the handle and walking in.  She smiled at the man at the desk, Lieutenant Ric Volmaé, whom she'd trained over a year before, and turned her gaze to the half a dozen men and women who sat on chairs next to the large window.

"These are the new recruits?" she asked Ric.  Ric nodded.  "Yes, ma'am," he replied with a smile.  "For the Bodyguard program."

Sabé rubbed a hand over her eyes, seating herself on the edge of Ric's desk.  "Does Admin realise that we're in the middle of a semester?" she asked tiredly.  "I have a group in that program already.  If I'm supposed to get them to the same level before spring…"  She trailed off.  

"I'm sorry, Commander," Ric said apologetically.  "I have talked to Admin about this, but they insist that you have to train this group.  Apparently it's Captain Panaka's orders."

Sabé gave a laugh.  The recruits glanced over at her, a little nervously.  "Trust Panaka to load me with this," she grimaced.  "Well, thank you, Lieutenant."  She rose, then turned back to face him as a thought struck her.  "You've entered the hand-to-hand competition soon, haven't you?"

Ric grinned.  "Yes, ma'am, I have.  You're entering too, aren't you?"  Sabé laughed at his hopeful expression, patting his shoulder.  "Perhaps, Lieutenant," she replied.  "We'll see."  She turned and walked over to the recruits.

"Good morning," she called, quieting them.  They all turned to face her, standing quickly to attention.  "My name is Trainer-Commander Sabé Maberrie.  I'm going to be your trainer whilst you are in this course.  I'm going to take you down to the training rooms now to show you around; whilst we're there, I'll take your names and numbers.  Understood?"

"Yes, Trainer-Commander," they replied in chorus.  Hiding a sigh, Sabé wheeled around and walked from the office, followed by all of them.  It took only a few minutes to reach Sabé's large training room, where she taught all but a few of her classes.  She quickly rapped out an order for the new trainees to line up, then grabbed a datapad from the desk in a corner and started taking down their names.

She was pleased to see that of the six, two were women.  It wasn't discouraged, but the Royal Guard had never been publicly thought of as a woman's job.  She wasn't surprised to find that most of them were older than her – she was only twenty, after all.  But she caught the look that several of the men sent her, and knew that she would have trouble with them.

"Name?" she asked the first one.  "Carl Hatté," the first dark-haired man replied.  She moved onto the next one, Lilié Neela, a fair-haired girl, and the next, Harré Fishé, a young man who looked to be from the eastern regions, where Rabé came from.

Then she moved to the other girl in the group, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl who bore a startling resemblance to Eirtaé, Sabé realised.  "Name?" she asked.  

"Tallé Mazioné," the girl replied.  She must have seen the surprise in Sabé's eyes, because she added "Lady Eirtaé is my elder sister."  A smile broke out on Sabé's face.  "I should have guessed," the former handmaiden observed dryly.  "You look like her, too."  Then she moved on.

After she'd got the names of all the trainees, she put the datapad down on her desk and turned back to face them.  "You can sit down," she told them, after finding them still standing.  They sat down quickly on the mats, and Sabé rolled her eyes.  "Okay, there's not really enough time now for me to start teaching you anything," she started.  "You each have a schedule, so you know when we have lessons, and for what.  Because you've all started this course in the middle of the semester, you'll have to work hard to make it up, and I warn you, I'm not an easy trainer.  For that, transfer to the Volunteer Corps.  It's where you only have half days and don't see any action."

She turned and picked up a pile of datapads with the first assignment on them.  Then she turned back to the group, handing them out.  "I should warn you, I only accept the best," she warned.  "I happen to be a friend of the Queen.  If I feel that through any incompetence or disinterest you would endanger her whilst on duty, I will not hesitate to fail you all.  You work as a unit or not at all, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," the trainees murmured, for the most part intimidated by her speech.  Sabé met Harré Fishé's insolent eyes, then turned away as the bell rang.

"Dismissed," she told them calmly.  They almost ran out of the room in their haste to get away from her, and once the door closed behind them, Sabé burst into laughter.

"Do you always start classes like that?" came a familiar, amused voice from the other door of the room.  Sabé whirled around to see Yané standing in the doorway.  The fourteen-year-old of three years before had matured into a graceful woman, her long brown hair invariably tied into plaits, her face having lost some of its baby fat, her limbs more slender than they had used to be.

Sabé grinned.  "When did you arrive?" she demanded, moving to hug her friend.  "Why didn't you come to see me immediately?"

"I came from the Palace," Yané admitted.  "Just got here a moment ago."  Two pairs of brown eyes met.  "Padmé wants to see you."

"Is something wrong"? Sabé queried fearfully.  Yané shook her head.  "No, nothing's wrong," she replied.  She hesitated, seeming to choose her words.  "Naboo is having some important visitors, and she thought you might like to be there to greet them this afternoon."

Slowly, Sabé moved back to her desk and started tidying away her datapads.  She didn't have a lesson to teach this period, so she had planned to catch up on some reading; she was putting herself through university as well as teaching here.

"I don't know, Yané," she evaded.  "I have a lot of work to do, and there's Callé, it'll be really hard to get a sitter at such short notice."

"Sabé, Padmé said to make it a Royal Command if I have to," Yané told her softly.  Sabé's eyes flashed with anger, then she controlled it.  "She'd do that?" she asked quietly instead.  Yané nodded.  "Then I'll come.  Callé will have to come and stay in the palace crèche."

"Can you come now?" Yané asked, moving to stand next to the desk.  "Panaka has cleared it with Admin; it's fine for you to come, someone will cover your other lessons."

"Let me get my stuff," Sabé rolled her eyes.  She moved over to the locker standing next to the desk, opened it, and rummaged through it for her cloak and bag.  Stuffing the datapads into the bag, she shrugged the cloak into place and put the bag over her shoulder.

"Let's go then," Yané said, obviously satisfied.  They moved from the room, and left the Academy to step onto the transport waiting for them.  Settling herself on the seat, Sabé met Yané's eyes.

"So who are these important visitors anyway?" she asked, mildly curious.  Yané merely smiled.  "You'd better give the driver directions," she pointed out.  "To pick up Callé."

Smiling slightly, Sabé leant forward and gave the driver instructions.  Within a few moments, they were at the playgroup where Sabé left Callé during the day.  Dismounting, Sabé quickly explained the situation to the carers and was holding Callé's hand as the three-year-old stumblingly walked out to the transport.

Yané cooed over the girl who was like a niece to all the handmaidens, and Callé gave the girl a huge hug before Sabé tied the safety strap over her lap.  The child's green eyes were wide with astonishment as the transport whirled through Theed streets.  Her curly brown hair was tied into pigtails, and one fist clenched over a stray curl.  

Then they were at the palace, and Sabé lifted Callé onto her hip to carry her whilst Yané took her bag.  "You are getting too old for this," Sabé murmured into Callé's ear, nodding to courtiers whom they passed who recognised her.

"Eth, mama," Callé giggled, her lisp showing in her speech.  Sabé kissed her cheek fondly as she descended the flight of stairs to the crèche.

"Lady Sabé," the woman in charge grinned broadly.  "I might have guessed.  Have you visited the med. centre yet, or are you just waiting to drop Callé off?"

Sabé blushed as she carefully let Callé down to the floor and watched her run off to play with the other children.  "I'll have you know I have no intention of visiting the med. centre – today, at least," she replied indignantly.

"Oh, sure," Yané agreed sarcastically.  She and the woman laughed, and Sabé turned red.  "Come on, Sabé, they'll be here soon."

She took Sabé's arm and dragged her through the maze of corridors that made up the Royal Palace.  They reached Padmé's rooms, and Yané keyed the door open, pulling Sabé into the rooms and swiftly shutting the door behind her.

The room was a hive of activity, handmaidens rushing to and fro with various items and Padmé sitting at the dressing table, her hair half-up in a simpler style than normal.

Then they noticed Sabé, and activity ceased instantaneously.  Sabé grinned at her friends' typical reaction, and then shrieked as Rabé, Saché, Eirtaé and Padmé piled on top of her, hugging her tightly.  The new handmaiden, whom Sabé hadn't yet met, hung back by the dressing table.  

"Hey, let me out!" Sabé demanded after a moment laughingly.  Obligingly, the four dissipated.  "What's this all about, Padmé?" she asked.

Padmé's face twitched into a smile.  "You'll see," she replied airily.  Sabé groaned.  "You guys have done that too much to me over the past three years," she complained.  "What's going on, Padmé?"

The new handmaiden, who Sabé presumed did not know the five well enough to be on first name basis with the queen, looked mildly shocked at the way Sabé was treating the seventeen-year-old girl.

"We're getting some visitors," Saché cut in as smoothly as ever.  "It's a surprise, Sabé."  Eirtaé stifled a laugh, and Sabé caught the motion.  "Oh, 'Taé," she spoke up.  "I met your sister today."

"Oh, did you?" Eirtaé demanded, looking deeply interested.  "So she signed up for it after all."  Rabé grinned.  "I told you she would," she remarked.  She picked up a slipper, turning it over for a moment, then chucked it to the new handmaiden.

"Here," she called.  "This is yours."  The girl caught it, sliding it onto her foot, and smiled.  "Thanks, Rabé," she grinned.  "No problem," Rabé breezed.  "Oh, Sabé, this is Dormé.  Dormé, Sabé."

"Hi," Sabé greeted, looking the girl over whilst not appearing to take her eyes from Dormé's.  Dormé appeared to be about sixteen, younger than the others, and was obviously similar in appearance to Padmé.

Then the door buzzed, and Saché hurried to open it.  Panaka stepped in, his face brightening when he saw Sabé.  "Sabé," he greeted.  "You're here already."

Sabé nodded.  "I have a bone to pick with you, Captain," she said dryly.  "How come I get another course when I've already got six to handle as it is?"

Panaka shrugged.  "They deserve the best teacher," he reminded her.  Then he turned his attention to Padmé.  "Your highness, the ship has arrived.  Shall I send the visitors up here?"

Padmé smiled.  "Yes, thank you, Captain," she replied gratefully.  She glanced quickly at Sabé, and Sabé wondered at her look.  Then Panaka was gone, and Sabé opened her senses as Adi Gallia had taught her three years before, feeling for whoever the visitors were.

Padmé recognised the slightly vague look on Sabé's face, and couldn't stop a grin.  When Sabé's eyes snapped back into focus, meeting hers, and her jaw hung open slightly, she nodded.

"Why didn't you say so?" Sabé demanded.  Rabé smiled slightly.  "It was his idea," she explained.  "He wanted to surprise you."

Then the door buzzed, and Saché opened it to reveal Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.

Both Jedi had grown considerably in the three years since Sabé had seen them last; Anakin was taller, more mature, and Obi-Wan had grown a slight beard.  When Saché stood aside to allow them to step in, Padmé went straight to Anakin and hugged him.

Sabé turned to face Obi-Wan shakily, and for a moment they simply stared at each other, taking in each other's different appearances.  Then she launched herself at him, hugging him tight to her.  He returned the embrace, his eyes squeezed shut as they held each other close.

Then Sabé pulled her head back to see him, staring into his eyes for a moment before closing her eyes and kissing him.  Her hand moved up to hold the back of his head, and his hands moved to tangle in her hair.  They stayed standing there for minutes until Eirtaé coughed loudly and Sabé moved back, blushing.

"Well, I must say, that wasn't quite the greeting I expected," Obi-Wan remarked, earning a laugh from everyone.  Rabé moved to Sabé and whispered something in her ear, and Sabé smiled gratefully at her before taking Obi-Wan's hand and pulling him out of the door, through the palace and into the gardens.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Sabé demanded once they were alone.  Obi-Wan shrugged.  "I wanted to surprise you," he told her, moving closer and kissing her again, leaving her breathless.

"You certainly did that," she managed.  She blushed slightly under his gaze, and changed the subject.  "How have you been?  You haven't written in ages.  How's Mistress Adi?"

"I've been fine," Obi-Wan replied with a  smile.  "I'm sorry I haven't written, Ani and I have been on a dozen missions in the last few weeks.  Mistress Gallia is fine, and sends her regards.  She says she'll write soon."

Sabé nodded, led Obi-Wan on through the gardens to the rose gardens.  The red, white and yellow blossoms were everywhere, and their fragrance scented the air.  Sabé's fingers trailed over the velvety petals of one flower, then she turned to Obi-Wan.

"I missed you," she admitted quietly.  Obi-Wan's hand lifted to cup her cheek; she turned her head to press a kiss to his palm.  "I missed you too," he replied huskily.  She melted into his embrace, and they stayed like that for a moment stretched into eternity.

"Are you staying long?" Sabé asked finally.  He shrugged slightly.  "We've been allowed two weeks, providing nothing comes up," he replied.  "Of course, I have to train Anakin during that time, but…"

Sabé nodded.  "And I have classes," she reminded him.  "And Callé."  She was unaware of the soft look that crossed her face as she spoke her daughter's name, but Obi-Wan saw it, and felt a rush of warmth for this remarkable woman.  

"Where's Callé now?" he inquired suddenly.  "In the crèche," Sabé told him.  Her hand crept up, her fingers tracing his lips carefully.  "I brought her when Yané fetched me.  I didn't realise it was you – you should have warned me!"

"Like I said, I wanted to surprise you," Obi-Wan murmured, his mouth moving to reclaim hers.  She allowed him to kiss her for a moment, then teasingly pulled away and moved among the flowers again.  He followed her, their fingertips brushing.

"I really ought to get back to the Academy," Sabé told him reluctantly after a moment.  "I have a lot of work to do."  Obi-Wan nodded, pulling her to him and pressing a kiss to her forehead.  Impulsively she flung her arms around him, kissing him passionately.  

"You know where I live," she managed breathlessly.  "I'll be in by five, Theed time."  Then she moved away through the rose bushes towards the palace.  

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Obi-Wan paused before ringing the bell on Sabé's apartment door.  There was a moment before it slid open, and a harried-looking Sabé let him in.  Her normally tidy hair was half-loose from her plait, and Obi-Wan could see Callé obstinately sitting on the couch behind her.

"Come in, Obi-Wan," she said, before he could even open his mouth.  "Sorry about this," she indicated the messy apartment as he stepped in.  "Callé refuses to eat her supper."

Small green eyes glared, meeting sharp brown ones.  Mother and daughter stared at each other for a moment, then Sabé sighed and turned back to Obi-Wan, taking his cloak and hanging it on a hook.

"Callé," she said then, "this is Obi-Wan.  I told you about him, remember?"  Obi-Wan smiled down at the little girl, who observed him for a moment, decided she liked him, then turned back to her colouring book.

Sabé closed her eyes, taking deep breaths and counting to ten.  When she opened her eyes, she met Obi-Wan's amused blue-green gaze.  "You wait until you have kids," she murmured rebelliously to him.  Then she took him through to the kitchen.

"You hungry?" she demanded.  "I made a lot…and I'm sure it's better than palace cooking."

"Thanks," Obi-Wan said gratefully.  Within moments they were both eating a traditional Naboo meal.  Obi-Wan had to admit that it _was better than the palace cuisine._

His eyes roamed the kitchen, and rested on a lightsaber, placed well back on the counter so that Callé's tiny hands couldn't reach it.  He glanced up at Sabé.

"You'll have to treat me to a spar," she remarked, watching his gaze.  "I'm grateful to Mistress Adi for teaching me how to use it, but not many people can around here."  Her eyes sparkled.  "Why not come by the Academy tomorrow lunchtime?" she suggested.

"I might just do that," Obi-Wan agreed, his eyes twinkling in reply.  Then the doorbell rang, and Sabé hurried to open it.

Saché entered, and Callé's shriek of pleasure made the handmaiden wince.  "Hey, Callé," she smiled.  "Sabé, is she ready?"  Sabé nodded.  "She wouldn't eat," she warned.  "So she's likely to get hungry later on – and something healthy, Saché, not junk food," she warned.

Saché nodded.  "No junk food, I promise," she agreed cheerfully.  "Come on, Callé.  Let's go see Auntie Padmé."  She held out her hand, and Called came running to hold it, her other hand clutching her colouring book.

"Callé," Sabé stopped her.  She crouched and kissed Callé's cheek.  "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Callé nodded.  "Eth, mama," she agreed.  "Ba-bye."  Then she and Saché were gone.  Obi-Wan moved to hold Sabé, and she relaxed into his arms.

"She's very much your daughter," he murmured, with almost awe.  Sabé gave a humourless laugh.  "I sometimes wonder if I'm doing the best I can for her," she admitted.  "I'm only twenty, Obi-Wan."

"But you're hardly young," he reminded her.  "Not after all you've seen and done."  She nodded, closing her eyes.  Her mouth curved into a smile as he trailed kisses down her neck.

"Save it for the bedroom, love," she reproved with a laugh.  He shrugged.  "So let's find the bedroom," he suggested.  Turning to face him, Sabé smiled wickedly and kissed him.

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	10. The Story of a Thief - part 10

******************************************************************************************** Chrissie Bligh Normal Chrissie Bligh 1 2 2001-11-02T15:48:00Z 2001-11-02T15:52:00Z 15 5135 29270 HP 243 58 35945 9.2720 Print 75 

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Five years later (Eight years after _The Phantom Menace)_

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The flames flickered in the cold crematorium, and Sabé shivered as she watched the flames lick at the body of her friend.  Next to her, Rabé, Yané, Eirtaé and Padmé all stood, silent, as each of them bade Saché farewell in their own way.

Callé stood behind them with Dormé, who respected the remaining five of the original six in their grief.  She had become great friends with Saché in the five years she had known the handmaiden, but she knew that Rabé, Yané, Eirtaé, Padmé and Sabé had loved Saché like a sister.

As a tear fell down Sabé's cheek, she couldn't help remembering the funeral of eight years before, when she had watched Qui-Gon Jinn burn as Saché now burned.  Then her mind was taken over with memories of Saché, and she couldn't stop a gasping sob.

Padmé's hand snaked out to clasp her own, and Sabé squeezed it, glad of the warmth and comfort that she could feel rolling off Padmé and the others.  Tears were running down all of their faces, and Sabé looked down in surprise as a pair of arms circled her waist as Callé hid her face in her mother's skirt.  She returned the hug quickly, then as the flames died down finally, she turned and led the child from the crematorium.

After a word with the others, Padmé followed her.  "Sabé, can I talk to you?" she called.  Sabé turned, nodded, and told Callé to wait for her outside.  Callé moved away, and the two stood together.

"I still don't know how it happened," Sabé said at last in a ragged whisper.  Padmé gave a small shrug.  "Blaster overload," she replied in the same tone.  "She was practising her aim, and then…"  She cut herself off, choking back a sob.  Then she pulled herself together.

"Panaka wants me to find a replacement," she told her friend.  "Preferably from the Academy.  I wanted to know if you know of anyone suitable."  Sabé forced herself to mentally look through the trainees at the Academy, searching for ones that looked enough like Padmé to be suitable.

"There are a few," she admitted slowly.  "But…"  She hesitated.  "Padmé…"  She trailed off again, not knowing how to phrase what she wanted to say.

"No, Sabé."  Padmé was firm.  "Much as I would love to have you as a handmaiden again, you are too valuable where you are."  She paused.  "Besides, there may be another job open to you soon," she admitted.  Sabé frowned slightly.  "Padmé, after what happened," she started to argue.  Padmé held up a hand.

"No arguments, Sabé," she said softly.  "Panaka insists on someone from the Academy.  Who are the possibles?"

"There's one girl, Cordé Marsé," Sabé replied after a long moment.  "She's as like you as Yané, and she's a brilliant fighter.  I'd say she's the most likely, but if she doesn't work out, there's a couple of others – Versé Singé, Lié Grea, Rosa Sirta, all good fighters and similar in appearance to you."  She paused.  "Although if both of those are the main considerations," she began, "then -,"

"No, Sabé," Padmé said sharply.  Then she softened.  "I truly am sorry, Sabé," she told the older woman.  "But you're best where you are."

Sabé stared at her for a moment, her eyes cold, then she nodded defeat.  "I'll send Cordé and the others over to the palace tomorrow," she told the queen at last.  "If you want, I'll accompany them."

"That would be good," Padmé accepted softly.  She hesitated, then continued.  "It's not just Saché we need to replace, Sabé," she observed.  Sabé winced at her words, but Padmé had to say them.  "Eirtaé is getting married, remember.  She'll be leaving within a month."

"I know," Sabé murmured.  Then Callé came running up, claiming her attention.

"Mum, it's starting to rain, let's go," the eight-year-old encouraged her mother softly.  Sabé nodded.  She looked up at Padmé again.  "Tell the others I'll see them tomorrow," she said softly.  Padmé nodded, then turned and returned to her handmaidens whilst Callé took Sabé's hand and led her out to the transport.

The two sat silently as the private transport swept through the streets of Theed that even now were soaking with rain.  Callé watched as another tear crept down Sabé's face, and she leant her head on Sabé's arm, smiling slightly as Sabé's arm moved to hold her.

"Why do people have to die, Mum?" she asked at last, so quietly that Sabé barely heard the words.  "I don't know, little one," Sabé managed.  "They just do."

The next day, Sabé called Cordé, Versé, Lié and Rosa to her office.  They arrived expectantly, and Sabé critically looked them over, noting their similarities and dissimilarities to Padmé.

Rabé would still have to play decoy, she mused.  But Cordé, if she was chosen, was like enough that she would be able to do as well if the need arose.  Then she snapped out of her own thoughts and smiled at the four girls in front of her.

"Thank you for coming here so quickly," she said quietly.  "You've all been called to the Palace by her highness; I'm to accompany you."

The girls exchanged confused glances.  Cordé spoke up.  "If I may ask, Commander," she started.  "Why?"  Sabé hid a sad smile.  "The Queen is in need of two handmaidens," she explained.  "You all have been chosen as candidates."

The reactions of the four girls were remarkably varied, Sabé observed almost clinically.  Cordé laughed a little in disbelief, Versé paled, Lié gasped and Rosa looked as though she was about to faint.

"We're expected in ten minutes," Sabé said then.  "Just enough time for a run, I think."  Cordé groaned, then guiltily bit her lip.  "Of course, Commander," she agreed.  "Let's go then."

Ten minutes later, panting slightly, the four girls drew to a halt at the bottom of the huge steps up to the palace.  Sabé, coming lightly to a rest beside them, looked up at the palace with the eyes of one who had worked there – less of awe and more of reluctance – glanced the girls over and smiled.

"Not through the front door," she told them.  "Handmaidens never go through the front door unless they are with the queen."

Versé glanced curiously at her.  It was a widespread rumour around the Academy that Sabé had been a handmaiden at some point in her past – that and the rumour that she had been a thief were the most popular about Trainer Maberrie, and neither had been confirmed or rejected by Sabé herself.

But Sabé gave no indication as to how she knew what handmaidens did, merely ushering the four past the steps, around a corner, and into the palace through a smaller serving entrance.

She caught hold of a servant before they were more than a couple of feet in, and recognition dawned on the man's face.

"Do you know where her highness is?" Sabé inquired after exchanging pleasantries.  The man shrugged.  "I think she and her handmaidens are in the gym," he replied.  "You could try there, Lady Sabé.  If she isn't there, Captain Panaka will be, and he'll know."

"Thank you," Sabé smiled, before they separated.  The four girls exchanged curious glances and followed her.

"Commander, if I may," Versé ventured.  Sabé flashed her a smile.  "Go ahead, Versé," she encouraged.  Versé nodded, then continued.  "Why did he call you Lady Sabé?  And how do you know your way around the palace?"

Sabé hid a smile as they turned a corner and climbed a flight of stairs.  "Is it so surprising that I know my way around?" she pointed out mildly.  "I am responsible for training the Royal Bodyguard, after all.  Part of that training is to know all the different routes of the palace."

"But why did he call you Lady Sabé?" Rosa pressed.  Sabé shrugged slightly.  "Although it may be difficult for you trainees to accept, Sabé is my name," she remarked.  "He was merely showing me respect."

Then they were at the gym, and Sabé pressed her palm against the panel to let them in.  Rosa, Lié, Versé and Cordé stopped short when they saw five girls; four of them were paired off, sparring, and the fifth was doing some moves with a staff in an area away from the other four.  Sabé moved towards them, then paused.

"Padmé," she called.  One of the sparring girls looked up, her hair falling around her face; the other girl had been thrusting at her, and her momentum caused her to slip.  She managed to fall gracefully, but she looked up at Padmé with chagrin.

"Sorry, Rabé," Padmé murmured automatically, holding out a hand and helping the girl up.  Then she moved over to greet Sabé, hugging her tightly.

"These are them?" she inquired, looking over the four girls.  Cordé shifted slightly, uncomfortable with the stare and not knowing who Padmé was.  Sabé nodded.  "You're still letting your guard down, Padmé," she reproved.  Padmé blushed slightly.

The other four girls moved over to stand behind Padmé.  Sabé smiled warmly at them all.  "You've all slipped," she remarked airily.  "Perhaps I ought to give you a quick lesson whilst I'm here."

The girl who had been practising with a staff laughed a little scornfully.  Versé noticed that with the exception of one blonde, the four all looked similar – as did Sabé, she realised.  

"You couldn't beat us if we had one hand tied behind our backs," the girl commented.  By the twinkle in her eyes, Rabé knew that Yané was leading Sabé on.  And glancing at Sabé, Rabé realised that she had taken the bait.

"Staff please, Eirtaé," Sabé said smoothly to the blonde woman.  Eirtaé, smiling, moved to a pile of them and handed one to Sabé.  then Sabé and Yané moved to the centre of the gym and took up defensive positions.

Padmé sighed.  "Why must Yané bait her like that?" she demanded rhetorically.  Eirtaé chuckled.  "Sabé lets herself be led on," she reminded Padmé.  Then she turned to the four girls.  "Forgive us.  I'm Eirtaé Mazioné."

"Rabé Ticla," the darker woman introduced herself.  "That's Yané over there," she indicated the sparring girl.  "Dormé Yizla," the fourth girl told them with a smile.  Her hair was a shade darker than the other girls'.  

"Padmé Naberrie," Padmé introduced herself.  Rabe made a sound, and Padmé shot a warning glance at her.  "We're the Queen's handmaidens."

"I'm Cordé," Cordé smiled.  "This is Versé, Lié, and Rosa."  Lié made a sound.  "We can speak for ourselves, Cordé," she reprimanded the slightly younger girl.  Cordé shrugged, not abashed at all.

"Commander Maberrie told us that we were candidates for new handmaidens," Versé spoke up in her soft voice.  "May I ask why?"

The handmaidens exchanged sad glances.  Finally Dormé spoke up.  "Saché, the other handmaiden, was killed in an accident a few days ago," she said softly.  Padmé winced.  "One of you will…replace her.  And Eirtaé is getting married soon."

Eirtaé blushed slightly as all gazes turned to her.  Then Rosa thought of something.  "Was Commander Maberrie a handmaiden?" she demanded.  Again Padmé's eyes, warm and yet inquiring, turned on her.  "What makes you say that?" she asked lightly.  Rabé shoved her slightly.  "Alright, yes she was.  When she left, Dormé replaced her."

The four girls nodded, then they all turned to see Yané and Sabé still fighting, although Sabé obviously had the upper hand.  For a moment, all the sound in the gym was the thwack of two staffs connecting heavily.

Finally, tired of humouring Yané, Sabé attacked seriously, beating the younger girl back until she finally knocked the staff from her hands and raised her own staff to under her chin.

"Kill point," she advised.  She took her staff away, pushing one strand of hair from her forehead.  "You should know better, Yané."  Yané bent to retrieve her staff and took Sabé's, tossing them onto the pile.  "You're right, I probably should," she agreed lightly.

"If you two are finished playing?" Padmé called with amusement.  Sabé turned to her, her cheeks still flushed.  "Sorry, Padmé," she apologised.  "But you know I can't resist a challenge."

"Oh, we know," Rabé commented.  "Perhaps now we can get down to business."  Sabé nodded, and moved towards the nine that stood, quickly joined by Yané.

Sabé paused for a moment as Padmé silently communicated with her, then raised an eyebrow in query.  "Shouldn't we wait for the Queen before we start the tests?" she asked.  Eirtae coughed slightly to hide a chuckle.

"She told me to take charge," Padmé said smoothly.  "Physical first?"  Sabé nodded.  "Okay, Cordé and Lié, Versé and Rosa," she instructed.  The four paired up quickly.  "Hand to hand.  Freestyle.  Show them what you've got, girls."

Padmé grabbed a towel and dried her forehead as the two pairs started fighting.  Rabé and Eirtaé murmured comments to each other, and Dormé and Yané conferred quietly about something.  Sabé watched her four students critically, noting when each of them performed well or badly, wincing as Versé let down her guard long enough for Rosa to get a punch in, and nodding in approval when Cordé moved in a roundhouse kick to floor Lié.

Padmé put a hand on her arm to tell her to stop them, and Sabé nodded.  "Okay, that's enough, girls," she called.  The four stopped almost instantly, gasping for breath and gratefully taking the glasses of water Yané and Dormé handed to them.

"They're good, no doubt about that," Padmé murmured into Sabé's ear.  "Okay, now for the real test.  Can they act like proper handmaidens?"

"Can any of us – you?" Sabé countered, correcting herself quickly.  Padmé glanced at her, a sympathetic smile on her face, then she nodded at Rabé and Dormé.  The two handmaidens quickly left the gym, and Yané and Eirtaé nodded as Padmé followed them.

"They've gone to let her highness know you're ready," Sabé told the four young girls, who watched curiously as this happened.  "You've got a couple of minutes, then we'll take you up to her chambers."

"You mean, meet the Queen herself?" Lié asked nervously.  Sabé stifled a laugh.  "Amidala isn't that bad," she consoled them.  "In fact, she's one of my best friends."  
  


"Sabé!" Eirtaé reproved slightly.  Sabé glanced up at the blonde handmaiden, and her face curved into a sad smile.  "Saché would have said that," she murmured.  Instantly, Yané and Eirtaé's faces closed up, and Cordé was surprised to see a tear glisten at Sabé's eye.  

"I can't believe she's gone," Yané murmured.  "She was like my big sister."  She glanced up at Sabé.  "You're all like my big sisters," she told the older woman honestly.  Sabé melted, and moved over to wrap her arms around the woman who seemed so young sometimes.  

Then Dormé stood at the door, and they were ready.  Yané and Eirtaé slipped on their handmaiden gowns, which had been discarded whilst they were exercising, and escorted Sabé, Cordé, Versé, Lié and Rosa up through the palace to the queen's chambers.

Entering the familiar chambers, Sabé was surprised to see Callé sitting quietly with Rabé, going through some of her homework.  When she realised they were here, Callé looked up, startled. 

"Callé, why aren't you in school?" Sabé reproved.  Her students glanced between each other, curious as to who this small girl was.  Callé gave an apologetic shrug.  "Teacher training day," she reminded her mother.  "You did say that I could come here, Mum."

"Yes, I did," Sabé agreed, lifting a hand to her forehead.  "I'm sorry, Callé, I guess I forgot."  Callé flashed her a brilliant smile, then returned to her math, which Rabé and she were struggling through.

Then Padmé – or Queen Amidala – walked through from her room.  She wore one of her simpler gowns, light blue, long and flowing, with her hair mostly loose.  Sabé's breath was taken away as she realised again how beautiful her friend was.

Then she remembered herself, and curtseyed.  Padmé hid a smile.  "Please, Sabé," she said, her voice softer than her normal regal tones, yet still retaining part of that royalty.  "We have known each other too long for such formalities."

"Thank you, your highness," Sabé murmured.  She motioned for her four students to step forward.  "May I present Cordé Marsé," Cordé curtseyed, "Versé Singé," Versé curtseyed, "Lié Grea," Lié curtseyed, "and Rosa Sirta."  Rosa curtseyed last. 

Padmé smiled slightly.  "Welcome," she greeted.  "I understand you are candidates for handmaidens."  "Yes, your highness," Cordé murmured.  Sabé bit her lip to keep from smiling.  In her seat next to Rabé, Callé watched in amusement; she knew that Amidala was Padmé, and always loved it when other people didn't know and met the queen and then met, at another time, her 'handmaiden' Padmé.

Padmé glanced at the young girl, a small smile evident on her face, then she looked back at Sabé.  "How was the physical, Sabé?" she asked smoothly.  Sabé nodded mildly.  "It went well, you highness," she replied.  "Although I'm biased – perhaps Rabé is a better judge."  
  


Both Sabé and Padmé turned to Rabé, standing near the door.  Underneath her hood, the blood rushed from Rabé's face.  

"Yes, Rabé, how did the physical go?" Padmé asked lightly, her voice betraying none of her wicked intent.  Rabé choked slightly before replying.

"They are all excellent fighters," she managed, "Although I think Cordé and Versé are slightly better than the rest."  
  


"Sabé, do you agree with that assessment?" Padmé asked coolly.  "Yes, your highness," Sabé replied.  She hesitated, opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again.  

"In that case," Padmé said, seeing Sabé's motions but not commenting on them, "Perhaps you and Callé could return in an hour?"  Sabé nodded, turning towards Callé, who quickly packed up her books and joined her mother, biting her lip to stop from smiling at the grimace Sabé sent her way.

"In one hour then, your highness," she curtseyed.  Callé bobbed a quick curtsey, making Eirtaé grin involuntarily, then the two hurried out, leaving Padmé, Eirtaé, Rabe, Yané and Dormé to decide which of the four girls were good enough to become handmaidens.

"Where are we going, Mum?" Callé demanded after they'd only gone a few steps.  "I have homework."  Sabé nodded.  "I know, little one," she replied.  "We'll find somewhere for you to do your homework, okay?"  Callé nodded, satisfied.

As they walked through the halls and corridors, greeting the many people they knew as they went, Sabé couldn't stop the shudder of sadness that ran through her.  It had been several months since she'd last heard from Obi-Wan; in the past, letters had sometimes been few and far between, but it was six months since he had last written, and as Callé paused to peer out of a window, clambering on a window seat, the same window seat where Obi-Wan and Sabé had talked so long ago, Sabé let out a little sigh.

Callé glanced back at her mother, hearing the sigh, and bit her lip as she debated whether or not to say anything.  A moment later the decision was taken from her when a voice cut through Sabé's trance.

"Now, let me see; today's Wednesday, and you don't usually come until Saturday.  What's wrong, Sabé?"  As Sabé glanced up to see Panaka, Callé returned to stare out of the window.

"Hello, Mark," she smiled warmly.  "How are you?"  He raised an eyebrow sceptically.  She heaved a sigh, and touched his arm to move against the wall, so people could pass by easily and so Callé couldn't hear.  

"You weren't at the crematorium yesterday."  Her voice, low and slightly cool, wasn't accusing, but Panaka blinked.  "I was on duty," he told her regretfully.  "I went in the evening, to help spread her ashes."  Sabé flinched.  "I'm so sorry, Sabé."  
  


Sabé shrugged.  "It wasn't your fault," she reminded him lightly.  "Let's not dwell on it."  Panaka gave her a long, measuring gaze before he nodded.  "So what are you doing here, Sabé?" he asked then.  "And with Callé – shouldn't she be in school?"

"She has a teacher training day, or something," Sabé explained.  "Rabé was looking after her.  I brought four girls to be tested for possible handmaidens to replace Eirtaé and…Saché."

He nodded, a slight smile on his face.  "Let me guess, you wanted one of the positions?"  Sabé shrugged.  "I hardly served her for more than a few weeks," she reminded him.  "After all she's done for me, it doesn't seem right.  Besides, I need a change.  I've been teaching at the Academy for a long time now, Mark, and you know I'm not a settler.  Not like you and Padmé."

He gave a small shrug.  "Hold on for a while more," he advised.  "There's a position coming up soon I think you should apply for."  He interest piqued, she raised an eyebrow curiously.  "Share!" she demanded.  He laughed, drawing Callé's attention.  "Defence Minister Jamé is retiring soon," he told her.  Sabé's face grew withdrawn slightly as she pondered it.  She nodded thoughtfully.  

"I could do that," she said slowly.  Then something struck her.  "Mark, there's an election coming up in a couple of months, isn't there?"  He wouldn't meet her eyes.  "Mark, tell me!"

"Her highness has told me that she doesn't intend to run," Panaka admitted finally.  "She hasn't made it public, but if I can't trust you, who can I trust?"  Something in his eyes gave Sabé pause.  Her gaze softened.  "Mark, don't get like that," she said gently.  "You know I love Obi-Wan."  
  


He smiled sadly.  "I know, Sabé.  But I know I love you too."  She looked down, ashamed to meet his eyes.  He gently lifted her hand, the Promise Ring evident.  "You know I won't speak of it.  But it's the truth."

Then he dropped her hand.  "Has he contacted you recently?"  She couldn't meet his eyes.  "No," she murmured.  "I'm a little worried."  He nodded.  Then he changed to subject.

"You know, you should think of running for queen," he remarked lightly.  She gaped.  "Don't look so surprised, Sabé, you love Naboo almost as much as Queen Amidala does."

"But even if I wanted to run, Naboo would hardly accept a former crime leader, would they?" she reminded him, a little bitterly.  "And no, I don't want to run," she added sharply, when Panaka opened his mouth again.  He shrugged.  "Suit yourself," he commented.  His head lifted to nod at someone who passed.  "But you ought to consider it, Sabé.  You'd make a good leader – you're born to it."

Then he moved away, sending a salute Callé's way before he disappeared around a corner.  Sabé leant against the wall, trying in vain to gather her thoughts, to gain the mental equilibrium that Adi Gallia had taught her to find eight years before.

When Callé glanced up at her again, she frowned slightly, sliding off the cushioned window seat and moving across the hall to stand before Sabé.  Brown eyes met green, and Sabé smiled slightly, lifting a hand to tuck behind Callé's ear a strand of hair that had escaped the two Naboo plaits.

"Are you alright?" Called asked quietly.  Sabé marvelled at her a little; she was only eight, but growing up with Sabé, Padmé, and the handmaidens had made her very astute.  "I'm fine, little one," she replied at last, softly.  "Don't worry about me."  Her gaze fell to the schoolwork that Callé still clutched.  "Let's see about that homework, shall we?"  She guided Callé over to the window seat once more, and together they sat down and did Callé's homework.

*********************************************

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By noon Padmé had made her decision, and Rosa and Lié were back at the Academy.  Eirtaé and Rabé were already starting to train Cordé and Versé in how to help the Queen with her robes and hairstyles.  Yané and Dormé were going through Saché's robes, seeing which could be kept and which needed to be replaced for either Cordé or Versé.

Sabé had snagged Padmé, still in her queen robes, and had drawn her over to a couch by the window.

"What is it, Sabé?" Padmé demanded, once the others had left them alone.  Sabé avoided her eyes for a moment, then hardened her heart and looked up.  "Why didn't you tell me you weren't going to run in the next election?" she asked quietly.

Padmé's gaze dropped to her hands, which were twisting together.  "Panaka told you."  Her voice was low, almost inaudible.  "I should have told you myself, I know, but I've only told him so far."

"Why?"  Padmé gave a small, humourless chuckle.  "That's a loaded question," she reminded the elder girl.  She hesitated, considered her words.  "I can't be queen anymore, Sabé," she almost whispered.  "I've been doing this for over eight years now, and I need to get out."  She met Sabé's eyes.  "I want to be the senator," she told her friend.  "I can do more good that way – for the galaxy, as well as Naboo."  
  


Sabé nodded.  "Panaka said that I should consider running for Defence Minister," she murmured.  "What do you think?"

"I think Panaka said a lot more than that," Padmé said sharply.  "He suggested that you should run for queen yourself."  Sabé coloured.  "They'd never accept me," she muttered.  "I was a thief, Padmé.  And I know practically nothing about politics."  
  


"Look, Sabé, it's a simple question," Padmé told her.  "Do you want to run or not?"

Their eyes connected.  Sabé squirmed slightly.  Padmé nodded in satisfaction.  "We'd better get a move on then," she told her.  Sabé frowned in confusion.  "Sabé, if you want it then you're going to get it, and I'm going to help you."

Impulsively, Sabé leant forward and put her arms around Padmé.  Padmé returned the hug, and Rabé looked up.

"What's going on?" she demanded, halting Cordé's hands as they pulled Eirtaé's hair up into one of the head-dresses.  "Sabé, what's happening?"

Sabé felt the insane urge to laugh.  "I'm running for Queen in the next election," she replied to the room at large.  Now she did giggle.              "Padmé's going to help me."  Padmé stared at her for a moment, then laughed with her.

But Yané, Eirtaé, Dormé and Rabé weren't laughing.  They were staring at the two in shock, ignoring Cordé and Versé.  Sabé and Padmé sobered up once they saw their friends' reactions, but they couldn't regret laughing.

"Padmé – you're not running?" Eirtaé demanded in a whisper.  Padmé and Sabé exchanged glances.  "No," the younger of the two said at last.  "I'm not, 'Taé."

"Why on earth?" Rabé exploded.  Padmé rose.  "Rabé!" she said sharply.  "It's my business."  The two glared at each other for a moment, then Rabé remembered who she was and turned away, bowing her head.  Padmé's gaze softened.  "Rabé, I'm sorry," she entreated.  "I'm not running for Queen, true, but I am running for senator."

"And what about us?" Yané asked in a whisper.  "We're just out of a job?  If that's the case, why have you bothered finding Cordé and Versé at all?"

Cordé and Versé exchanged glances.  Sabé sighed.  "Yané," she started.  "Please don't be upset."  Yané shook her head.  "I have every right," she said angrily.  

Padmé nodded.  "You have every right," she agreed, her voice cool.  "But, Yané, remember that even if you aren't my handmaiden anymore, you'll always be my friend."  With that she turned and walked into her room.  Everyone stared after her, then Sabé rounded on Yané.

"Yané, how could you?" she hissed.  "Padmé has thought about this, and it's her decision.  And anyway, she'll need handmaidens as a Senator."  
  


"What about you?" Dormé asked quietly.  "If you're voted in, will you need handmaidens?"  Sabé's shoulders slumped.  "I don't know," she whispered.  "I may not even be voted in – I was a thief, remember?  Naboo won't really like that."

"But _if you're voted in," Yané insisted.  "You'll need handmaidens."_

"But it won't be any of you!" Sabé returned fiercely.  "We were all Padmé's handmaidens before we were her friends, but you are my friends – I couldn't ask you to be my handmaidens now."

Her gaze settled on her two former students, and she smiled suddenly.  "You two had better get used to calling me Sabé from now on," she told them.  "You'll be leaving the Academy."

"Sure…Sabé," Cordé agreed uneasily.  "Uh…what just happened?"  Rabé made a sound, and returned to help Cordé and Versé learn on Eirtaé's hair.  Yané and Dormé exchanged glances and stormed out of the Queen's rooms, and Sabé sat limply down on the couch.  She closed her eyes, reaching for the tranquillity of mind that so often escaped her.

Then she stretched her senses out, feeling the people of Theed as they moved about the city, the palace, and the air traffic.  She lightly touched the subconscious of each person, not enough to know what they were feeling, just enough to reassure herself that there were people there.

Then her eyes snapped open.  "That low-down, Bantha-spitting, Force-cursed – _shazit!" she cursed.  All eyes turned on her.  "I can't believe he - " she cut herself off, and almost ran out of the room, passing Yané and Dormé in the corridor, moving through the palace and out into the streets of Theed.  She forced herself to walk to the main hangar, but once she was there she ran in to see the large public transport that had just landed._

She waited, impatiently, as a dozen people disembarked, waited for the swish of familiar brown cloaks.  When a tired Obi-Wan and Anakin finally stepped off, she stepped up to them.

A smile brightened Obi-Wan's face slightly until she raised her hand and slapped him.  His cheek stung with the impact, then he bowed his head slightly.  Next to him, Anakin raised a wry eyebrow.

"Six months, Obi-Wan!" she snapped.  "Six months!"  Obi-Wan wouldn't meet her eyes; Sabé noticed belatedly that a large bruise covered his face, and Anakin was covered with cuts and scrapes.  "Oh, gods, Obi-Wan, what happened?"

"Nothing," he told her gently.  She raised an eyebrow sceptically, then shook her head.  "Palace med. centre, now," she ordered the two Jedi.  Anakin looked as though he was about to object, then he caught her eye and bowed his head obediently.  

She marched them through Theed, ignoring the stares they were eliciting, and into the palace, through the corridors to the med. centre.  The doctor there actually groaned when he saw her.

"What is it now, Sabé?" he asked tiredly.  Then he realised that her two companions were injured.  His face brightened instantly.  Sabé handed Obi-Wan and Anakin over to him, tight-faced, and waited.

Obi-Wan attempted to talk to her whilst the doctor was seeing to his injuries, but Sabé wouldn't meet his eyes or listen to anything he said.  Eventually the Jedi subsided, and Anakin attempted to ignore the chilly silence that pervaded the med. centre.  When at last the doctor proclaimed them alright, Sabé marched them up to Padmé's rooms.

Padmé, Yané, Rabé, Dormé, Eirtaé, Cordé and Versé were all still there, talking and wondering what had made Sabé run off so quickly.  Callé was there too, animatedly chatting with Dormé about something.  When Sabé entered, almost dragging the two with her, they all looked up, astonished.

"Look who decided to pay us a visit," Sabé announced, grimly.  "Cordé, Versé, these are Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi.  Ani, Obi-Wan, Cordé and Versé, the new handmaidens.  Padmé, can we talk?"  With that she walked out again, leaving Obi-Wan and Anakin to be stared at by the seven women.

Then Padmé rose and hurried past them to her friend, shooting an angry glare at Obi-Wan as she went.  Yané stifled a laugh as Obi-Wan cringed, and Anakin gave a laugh.

"Hi, Uncle Obi-Wan, hi, Ani!" Callé piped up, and Obi-Wan, a small smile of relief on his face, moved to hug his 'niece'.

Outside, Padmé was hugging Sabé.  The older girl was torn between crying and yelling, and right at the moment she was closer to crying.

"Six months, Padmé," she cried.  "Six months, and then he just turns up, and…"  She cut herself off, turning sharply away from her friend.  Then she turned back.  "He's such a man," she complained.  Padmé's sympathetic look was replaced by an amused one.  "You wouldn't have him any other way, and you know it," she reminded her friend smilingly.  Sabé gave her friend a glare, which softened.  "You're right," she conceded.  "But, Padmé, I don't know if I…"

She trailed off again, not knowing what to say.  Padmé nodded.  "I know," she whispered.  "You're not the only one in love."  Sabé gave her friend a sharp glance, realisation hitting her.  "Padmé, he's, like, seventeen," she cried, not outraged but pretending to be.  As usual, Padmé saw right through her.  "And I'm only twenty-two," she reminded the older girl.  "It's not so big an age difference."

Sabé had to nod agreement, and then Anakin stuck his head out of the door.

"Obi-Wan wants to know if it's safe to come out," he announced.  Something must have hit him then, that something being Obi-Wan.  "Ow!  Oh, right.  Are you two finished?" he inquired, his face such a comical picture that Sabé had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.  

"Tell him to meet me in the gardens," she told him.  "I'll be there in a few minutes."  She turned back to Padmé as Anakin disappeared.  "Padmé, about what you said earlier – helping me with the political stuff – can we start tomorrow?"

Padmé nodded reassuringly.  "You know more than you think, it shouldn't be too hard," she observed.  Sabé gave her a humourless smile then moved down the corridor.  Padmé stared at her retreating back for a moment, then turned and walked back into her rooms.  She nodded at Obi-Wan, who practically ran out of the door, then turned to Anakin, hugging him tightly.  Rabé and Eirtaé took the hint and ushered everyone out.

Sabé moved through the palace quietly, ending up in the gardens only a moment before Obi-Wan burst out of the doors.  She turned back towards him, wrapping her arms around herself.  Her eyes met his, and softened.

"Six months," she reminded him, a little bitterly.  "Why, Obi-Wan?"  He glanced down, too ashamed to meet her eyes.  "You know what?  Save it," she told him sharply.  "I've got a lot of work to do."

She moved past him and he reached out an arm to stop her, sending shivers through her body.  "Please," he said desperately.  "I'm sorry, Sabé…we were on missions, and when we got a moment to breathe I was so exhausted that I…"  
  


"You couldn't be bothered," Sabé completed softly.  "Well, you know what, Obi-Wan?  I'm not sure I can be bothered anymore either.  I've got a lot going on.  I'm running for queen in the next election, you know, and Padmé has to help me out, plus I have to look after Callé and train the two new handmaidens."

"I heard about Saché," he nodded quietly.  "I'm sorry."  Sabé wrenched herself from his grasp.  "You're sorry?" she echoed incredulously.  She shook her head.  "You have no comprehension of how I feel, Obi-Wan."

"Is this sudden?" he asked hesitantly.  Sabé paused, considered.  Then gave her answer.  "No."  He nodded, knowing she was telling the truth and accepting it.  After a moment she moved past him, stopping when he called out to her.

"Anakin and I will stay overnight," he told her.  "We'll be gone in the morning."

She didn't turn back to face him, not trusting her resolve to hold.  "That would be best," she replied softly.  Then she did turn, still not meeting his eyes.  "I'm sorry, Obi-Wan."  She looked down at her hand, and gently tugged the Promise Ring from her finger.  She let it hang in the air for a moment, using her Jedi mental powers which were by now almost second nature to her.  Then she turned, keeping her mental grip on it until she felt Obi-Wan's hand clench around it.

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	11. The Story of a Thief - part 11

******************************************************************************************** Chrissie Bligh Normal Chrissie Bligh 1 2 2001-11-02T15:52:00Z 2001-11-02T15:55:00Z 10 3289 18749 HP 156 37 23025 9.2720 Print 75 

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With Callé safely at school, Sabé ventured into the palace.  It was two months since she had broken up with Obi-Wan, and it still hurt that she had.  It was one month before the elections, and today the candidates would be announced.

Including herself.  Sabé nodded slightly to a couple of women she passed on her way up to Padmé's rooms, trying, without much success, to hide the case of nerves she was having.  When she failed, three times in a row, to key in the access code to her friend's rooms, she slammed her fist against the wall in frustration.

Dormé opened the door, revealing her amused face, half covered by her handmaiden hood.  "Come in, why don't you," she invited wryly.  Sabé gave her a glare, then marched through to be greeted by Padmé, resplendid in her red Royal robes.

"Help!" Sabé pleaded desperately.  "I can't do this, Padmé, I really, really can't!"  Padmé shook her head, trying to hide her smile.  "You can," she said firmly.  "What's more, you will."

She inspected her friend critically.  Sabé had worn her usual, simple tunic and leggings, but Padmé knew that would not do.  So did Yané and Rabé, unfortunately for Sabé, because after meeting Padmé's eyes, they pounced on Sabé, pulling her hair from its plaits and tugging her tunic off.

"Rabé!" Sabé protested with a screech as her hair wrenched.  "That hurt!"  Rabé shrugged.  "Beauty hurts," she commented blithely.  Dormé, Cordé and Versé disappeared to find a suitable gown, and Rabé began to brush through Sabé's hair, which had grown slightly in the last few months.

"You'll be fine," Padmé reassured her friend, observing the pale face and wide eyes with a little concern.  Her eyes fell, as they so often did, to the slightly pale ring of skin on Sabé's finger, and then raised again to meet Yané's eyes.  Yané gave a shrug, and helped Rabé.

An hour later, Padmé pronounced Sabé ready.  Sabé hesitantly stepped in front of the mirror, and cautiously nodded.  The form-fitting blue gown complimented her features, and made her look slightly older.  "It's not bad," she agreed.  She turned to Padmé.  "But, Padmé, I don't want them to think that this is who I am."

Padmé raised an eyebrow delicately.  "And when I ran, this," she waved an arm at her gown," is who I was.  They know better now.  They'll know better for you."

Rabé nodded.  "It's true," she agreed.  "Don't worry, Sabé."  Sabé nodded slightly, twisting her hands together .  She glanced down at them, almost surprised to see herself doing that, and stopped.  "I wish Saché was here," she said softly.

"Well, she's not," Yané said brusquely – too brusquely for anyone to not understand that she cared deeply about that remark.  "And we'd better get going.  The announcement and conference is in ten minutes."

Padmé nodded, suddenly business-like.  She straightened her skirt slightly, brushed a minuscule speck of dust from her shoulder, and smiled slightly as the handmaidens assembled behind her, with Sabé in between Dormé and Yané at the back.

"Let's go," she commanded.  They all swept out of the door, an impressive sight, even more so than usual because of Sabé's presence in their midst.  Sabé carried herself so well that some, passing them in the halls, only knew the difference between her and Amidala because of Padmé's richly embroidered robes.

When they reached the throne room, Padmé motioned for Sabé to sit in the circle of chairs usually reserved for governors and ministers.  The men and women seated there today eyed her curiously, but said nothing, and the other candidates were ushered in soon after, seating themselves near Sabé.

Finally, when everyone had arrived, Queen Amidala started the conference.  When she cleared her throat slightly, the room fell silent, and all eyes turned on her.

"I believe everyone knows why we are here," she started.  "There is an election in one month, and today the candidates will be revealed.  Could each candidate rise, and give us their name."

"Count Taaku," one man said, rising then sitting again.  Two other men and a woman rose and gave their names, then Sabé stood.  She kept her eyes locked on Padmé's, which gave her strength to speak.  

"Sabé Belacque," she told them all.  Then she sank back into her seat to uproar.  She closed her eyes for a second as the other candidates stood up and loudly demanded if that was her _real surname, and the governors demanded if she was any relation of the thieving family – more specifically, the infamous Sabé Belacque who had never been caught._

Sabé met Padmé's eyes with a quiet desperation.  Padmé nodded slightly, then her voice rang out in the throne room.  "Ladies and gentlemen, I must insist that you be seated and be silent.  If you have a question, address it to myself and Lady Sabé will decide whether or not she wishes to answer it."  
  


Reluctantly, the candidates seated themselves again.  Padmé leant back slightly on the throne, surveying them all.  She nodded at Count Taaku, who was almost writhing in his seat with questions.  He rose.

"Your Highness, is this…Lady Sabé any relation of the Belacque thieves?"  He sat, awaiting either Amidala's or Sabé's answer.  Padmé looked at Sabé.  They'd discussed this, knowing that the question would be among the first she was fired with, and Sabé nodded.

"I will answer that, your highness," she said quietly.  She turned to Count Taaku.  "You are correct.  I am related to that family."  Then she sat back in her seat.  

In her seat behind Padmé, Yané smiled slightly.  Sabé was going to make them fight for every inch.  

The other female candidate, Maria Theta,  raised an eyebrow, then stood.  "I think what Count Taaku was trying to ask," she remarked with a cold smile, "was whether or not Lady Sabé is in fact Sabé Belacque, one of the most infamous thieves of the last century."

Padmé raised an eyebrow delicately.  "Lady Sabé, will you answer?"  She knew that Sabé had to, or any credibility she had would be lost in an instant.

"Thank you, your highness," Sabé murmured.  She looked at the woman.  "Lady Maria.  Yes, I was that thief.  Please, if you have a problem with it, I'll be happy to answer any and all allegations you have against me."

Score one for Sabé, Rabé thought victoriously.  She glanced at Padmé, sitting in the throne to her right.  She couldn't wait until she told them that she, the queen, would not be running.

"I think we should turn our minds to more important matters," Governor Bibble said authoritatively.  "We now know who our candidates are; Count Taaku, Lady Maria, Lord Harré, his highness Prince Sandé of Theed, Lady Sabé, and her majesty Queen Amidala."

But Amidala raised a hand.  "You are mistaken, Governor Bibble," she said, her voice soft but commanding.  "We have only five candidates this year; I will not be running."

A ripple ran through the throne room.  Governor Sao Machent stood up.  "Your highness," he said, his voice soft and musical.  "Might I inquire as to why?"

"I am not running for sovereign again," Amidala replied simply.  "I have spent eight years on the throne; that is enough.  I will, however, be running for senator of Naboo."

Governor Machent nodded, and sat down again to murmurs and whispers.  Then Governor Bibble took charge again.  "Let's proceed," he said.  "Have each of the candidates decided on their policies?"

********************************************************************************************

A loud beeping invaded Sabé's ears, and she groaned, flinging out an arm to stop the alarm that insisted she get up.  Then something landed on the bed, snuggling up to her, and she draped an arm over Callé.

"You have to get up!" Callé reminded her brightly.  She wriggled off the bed, moved over to the window, and drew the curtains, making Sabé moan and cover her head with the blankets.

Then Yané moved in and stripped the blankets from the bed.  "Up, Sabé," she commanded.  Sabé opened her eyes fractionally.  "What are you doing here?" she mumbled.  Yané gave a brilliant smile.  "Padmé sent me to make sure you're dressed suitably," she replied.  She moved over to Sabé's wardrobe and started looking through the clothes whilst Callé brought out a wet sponge, dripping water on her mother's face to wake her up more thoroughly.

"I'm up, I'm up!" Sabé protested, sleepily sitting up and forcing herself out of bed.  She rubbed her eyes, yawned, stretched, and sat back down again.

"Honestly, do you have any clothes that aren't tunics and leggings?" Yané complained, shoving clothes aside in her quest for more suitable clothes.  "You'd better get that sorted once you're elected."  She flashed a smile.

"I'm not elected yet, Yané," Sabé warned.  The younger woman gave a shrug.  "By noon you will be," she forecast.  "Results have been coming in all night from the farthest provinces; you're tying with Prince Sandé right now, but you're inching towards a lead."

"When you're queen, will that make me princess?" Callé piped up.  Sabé smiled at her eager face.  "I'm not sure, little one," she replied.  "We'd better ask Auntie Padmé, huh?"  Callé nodded.  "You go get ready for school, okay?"  The girl disappeared from the room, and Sabé sighed.  "She's so little," she murmured wistfully.

"Come on," Yané said practically.  "Let's get you dressed."  She held out one of the few dresses Sabé owned, a deep green, flowing affair that Sabé personally detested, because it required that she wear a corset with it.

"Oh, no, please not that one," she complained, but Yané fixed her with a look.  Then she softened.  "This could be my last day as a handmaiden," she told her friend.  "Let me be one, please?"

Sabé recognised the quiet desperation that Yané so rarely showed, and she nodded instantly, standing and stripping off her nightgown, groping for fresh underwear as Yané moved to look through Sabé's hair ties.

Then Yané rummaged through the closet for the corset, and Sabé sucked in her breath.  She'd have to hold it for the rest of the day, she reflected miserably.  But Yané tied it slightly looser than normal, knotting the strings firmly before helping Sabé carefully pull on the under-dress, silky light green.  Then came the gown itself, and Sabé's hair was almost caught in the metal hooks that tied it securely at her back.  The tight bodice and long sleeves made her itch a little, but the long, full skirt whispered whenever she moved.

"Where are the shoes that go with it?" Yané demanded distractedly.  Sabé shrugged.  "In the wardrobe drawer, maybe," she suggested.  "I don't often wear this dress."

"I know," Yané observed dryly.  "You wore it once, to that ball a couple of years ago when Obi-Wan was here for -," she broke herself off on seeing Sabé's pain-filled face.  Slowly she moved towards the older woman, the shoes in her hand.

"Why did you give him back the Promise Ring?" she asked, almost in a whisper.  It had been a taboo subject ever since it had happened; Sabé had confessed all to Padmé alone, and Padmé hadn't spoken of it except to warn her handmaidens to not talk about it.  But Yané sensed that Sabé would talk now, if she was asked.

"I couldn't keep doing it," Sabé hesitantly replied.  "He was hardly ever here, Yané, and we were growing further apart…"

"And yet you're still in love."  Was it a statement or a question?  Sabé didn't know, but she nodded anyway.  "I love him so much it hurts," she managed, her voice cracking.  Then her voice strengthened.  "But we agreed that our relationship wasn't particularly good for either of us."

"You sound like a teacher," Yané reprimanded, a little sternly.  "Sabé, you're in love.  I'm not going to say whether you should or shouldn't be together, but please, listen to your heart…especially if he ever comes back.  Don't be stupid and proud, like I know you can be."  She paused.  "Promise me?"

"I promise."  Barely a whisper, but Yané heard, and Yané understood.  They stood for a moment, their eyes meeting, exchanging something that neither of them fully understood.  Then Sabé crossed the room and buried her head in Yané's shoulder.  Yané held her tight, and for moments more nothing was said, and Sabé's cheeks grew moist with silent sobs.

Then Callé came skipping in, dressed in her school uniform, beaming.  "I watched the news, Mum!" she sang out.  Sabé quickly moved away from Yané, drying her eyes roughly with her hands.  "You're doing really well!"

Sabé turned to her daughter, her eyes still a little moist, but smiling down gently at the brown-haired, green-eyed girl.  "You ready for school?" she inquired softly.  Callé nodded.  "Then let's eat breakfast."  She turned back to Yané, who was suspiciously bright eyed.  "Would you like to join us?"

"Are you cooking your famous pancakes?" Yané probed.  Sabé raised an eyebrow at Callé, who was nodding emphatically.  "I guess so," she laughed.

"I'm in," Yané said decisively.  "With jaaku syrup, please!"  Sabé rolled her eyes and moved into the kitchen, followed faithfully by her daughter and her friend. 

*********************************************

Sabé waited with Padmé and the others in the throne room as the results continuously poured in from all over Naboo.  Outwardly she was the appearance of calm.  Inside she was nervous as hell.

When noon finally came, and the final results were being counted, sweat started to appear on her brow.  She and Prince Sandé were neck and neck, and she'd poured so much effort into this election that she felt like she'd explode if she didn't hear something soon.

Just as the results were due in, an attendant came hurrying in with a datapad.  The other candidates watched with interest as Sabé quickly read the datapad and paled.

"Please excuse me, your highness," she stammered, rising quickly and handing the datapad back to the attendant.  "But, I have to -,"

"What is it, Sabé?" Padmé asked, still in her 'Amidala' mode but unable to stop her concern showing through.  

"My daughter," Sabé managed.  "There's been an accident, and I…"  but Padmé was nodding.  "Go," she said gently.  "We will inform you of the results as soon as we know.  I hope Callé is alright."

"Thank you," Sabé threw over her shoulder as she hurried from the throne room.  She cursed the dress Yané had chosen as it stopped her from running as fast as she would have liked.  She ran into Panaka in the hall, and his jubilant face was lost on her as she muttered an apology and hurried on.

She caught a transport, and she ignored the odd looks the driver was giving her as she ordered him to go to the hospital where Callé had been taken.  They reached there within three minutes, and Sabé hurriedly paid the driver before moving into the Emergency entrance, meeting Callé's teacher who was giving some details at the reception area.

"Oh, Sabé" the frantic teacher, Amda Tirocla, greeted.  "Thank the stars you're here."  She turned to the receptionist, a young man who obviously recognised Sabé.  "This is Sabé Maberrie, Callé's mother.  She can tell you more than I can."

"Thanks, Amda," Sabé said quietly.  She turned to the man, who was obviously impressed at her calm.  "What's happened to my daughter?"

"Uh, she broke her ankle and her arm," the man replied.  "But it would be better if you talked to a doctor about that; she's stable, they're fitting the casts now."

Sabé nodded, her panic flowing away easily now.  "What details do you need?" she asked, forcing herself to concentrate.  The man fumbled a little, then looked at his computer.  "What's her date of birth?" he asked then.

"Uh, the third of the fifth month, three thousand twenty-seven," Sabé replied, dredging that up from her memory.  

"And her full name?"  Sabé considered in an instant what to reply.  "Callé Ama Belacque."

Amda and the receptionist didn't stare at her; because of the elections they knew her real name, but Amda shifted on her feet and the receptionist glanced back at the computer uncomfortably.

"Ah, here's the doctor," Amda observed at last, relieved.  Sabé looked up to meet the man who was approaching them.

"Mistress Maberrie?" he inquired hesitantly; he obviously recognised her.  Sabé made a sound.  "Lady Sabé Belacque, as you well know," she said sharply.  "How is Callé?"

"Your daughter is fine," the doctor soothed.  "I'm Doctor Sam Greyla.  Callé has broken her left ankle and her right arm, but they were both clean breaks and we've put casts on them.  They'll be fine within a month, but it would be a good idea to keep her off her feet for a couple of weeks."

Sabé nodded distractedly.  "Can I take her home?" she demanded.  Again that hesitancy – she wondered at it.  "Of course," Sam replied.  "But…"   He gave up on tact then.  "Lady Sabé, have you seen the news?"  Sabé frowned, shaking her head.  "What does that have to do with anything?" she demanded.

Sam sighed, then led her over to a holonet receiver.  He dialled onto the Theed station, and moved aside so Sabé could see the latest news.  The blood rushed from Sabé's face, and for a moment she trembled on her feet.

"Perhaps you'd prefer to take her to the palace," Sam smiled down at her.  "Your highness."

To her eternal shame, Sabé almost fainted then.  Sam moved her to sit on one of the waiting chairs, and Amda moved to sit on her other side.  She tried to take a deep breath, but the corset she ore prevented that.

"You should loosen your corset," the doctor observed, with a little mirth.  Sabé nodded vaguely.  "Blame Lady Yané," she tried to smile.  "Oh, Gods."  Calming herself, she moistened her lips and took a breath.  "I want to see Callé."  
  


"Of course," Sam nodded.  "Come through here."  He led her through a door and up an elevator, then along a ward and into a side ward.  There were four girls in here, all with casts on, but Sabé went instantly to Callé's side.

"Mum!" Callé complained as she was hugged tightly.  "I'm fine – Mum!"  Sabé drew back, brushing Callé's hair behind her ear.  "Sorry, little one," she smiled softly.  "You just had me worried."  She looked Callé up and down, noting the casts.  "When you do something, you don't do it by halves, do you, Callé?"

"Nope," Callé replied cheerfully.  "Have the results come in yet?"  Sabé coloured slightly as Sam looked knowingly at her.  "I think so," she said carefully.  "Let's go see Auntie Padmé, okay?"

"Sure," Callé readily agreed.  She carefully moved to the side of the bed, accepting the crutch that Sam held out for her, and leaning heavily on her mother, they began to walk.

"Thank you, Doctor," Sabé said gratefully as they moved down to the ground floor.  "Do I need to bring her in again?"

"Can't I just go to the palace med. centre?" Callé objected before Sam could reply.  "It's so much closer!"

Sam chuckled slightly.  "Yes, you can do that," he agreed, his eyes twinkling at the girl.  "I hope to never see you again, Callé – in the nicest possible way."

Then Sabé and Callé left the hospital, hailing a transport and hurrying back to the palace.  Sabé noted the looks she was getting now, slightly confused, and winced at the bows and curtseys she received.

And Callé noted them too.  "Mum – you won, didn't you!  You're the queen!"  Sabé looked down at her daughter.  "Apparently so," she nodded.  "Even more reason for us to go find Padmé, okay?"

Callé nodded, but didn't speed up as they moved slowly through the palace corridors.  She looked up as Cordé moved down the corridor to them.

"Sabé!" she exclaimed.  Then she bit her lip.  "I mean, uh…"  
  


"Don't start," Sabé warned her.  "Cordé, you know Callé, right?"  Callé grinned.  Cordé inspected the girl with amusement.  "We've met," she remarked.  "Callé, how on earth did you manage to do that?"

Callé shrugged.  "Some boy was calling me a stuck-up princess," she explained.  "I sorta got into a fight."

Sabé was appalled.  "Callé, how could you?"  Callé shrugged.  "He was really mean, Mum," she tried to get out of being in trouble.  Sabé stared at her for a moment more, then shook her head resignedly.  

"Where's Padmé?" she asked Cordé then.  Cordé looked up at her.  "In her rooms," she replied.  "Getting ready for the passing-over ceremony.  It's at two, by the way."

Sabé groaned.  "Let me guess: another dress like this one."  Cordé smiled sympathetically.  "Don't worry," she remarked.  "I'm sure Rabé will find something nice."

Sabé snorted slightly.  "Don't count on it," she muttered.  "Callé, you'll have to wear something suitable too."  She inspected the casts.  "Or maybe just something we can fit over you."

"Very funny!" Callé glared.  Sabé was suddenly overcome with a wave of fatigue, and she didn't reply to her daughter as she would normally have, merely nodding at Cordé to lead the way.

Ten minutes later – they'd had to move slowly because of Callé – Sabé keyed open Padmé's door.  The new respect she'd been shown by the courtiers on the way up had slightly put her on edge.  When she entered, Rabé, Yané, Versé, Dormé and Padmé were nowhere to be seen, so she helped Callé to a seat and ordered her to stay put.

"Keep an eye on her, Cordé," she smiled at the girl, who nodded seriously.  Sabé gazed at her for a moment, wondering if there had ever been a time when she had been that innocent, then moved into Padmé's room.

The four handmaidens were helping their former queen into a robe silently.  Padmé's face was bare, and the gown she was dressing in was traditional of passing-over ceremonies – dark blue, with her symbol etched into it at the front.  When she caught sight of Sabé in the mirror, she turned hurriedly with an exclamation.

"Sabé!  Is Callé alright?"  Sabé had to laugh at her.  "Callé got into a fight and broke her ankle and her arm," she informed her friends.  "You'll be hard pressed to find a gown that'll fit over her casts, Yané."

Yané gave her a serious look.  "You know then."  Sabé nodded.  "I found out from Callé's doctor, who kept on giving me the strangest looks," she remarked wryly.  She held up a hand as Rabé moved over to her, her intent obvious.  "No, Rabé, I am not wearing yet another of these gowns.  I want something loose and comfortable."

"You're the boss," Rabé remarked lightly.  Sabé winced slightly at those words, but she nodded anyway.  "And I'm not wearing that make-up," she warned.

"Your choice," Yané shrugged.  Sabé stared.  "Would you guys please give me some opposition here?" she begged.  "It's no fun if you're not yelling at me!"

Padmé laughed long and hard at her friend.  "Welcome to the world of ruling," she managed between laughs.  Sabé tried to frown, but ended up laughing with her.

*********************************************


	12. The Story of a Thief - part 12

********************************************* Chrissie Bligh Normal Chrissie Bligh 1 2 2001-11-02T15:56:00Z 2001-11-02T15:59:00Z 11 3690 21035 HP 175 42 25832 9.2720 Print 75 

*********************************************

Taking a deep breath, Sabé met Padmé's eyes.  For once the girl-Queen wore no make-up, and rather than revealing her relative youth, it made her seem more mature.  Sabé had privately resolved that she wouldn't even consider wearing the thick white and red paint, but for a moment she almost wished that Padmé had worn it to the passing-over ceremony.

She was acutely aware of all the holo-vid reporters and all the politicians that were watching them, but she tried to block them out, focusing entirely on Padmé.

Her friend looked beautiful, she had to admit.  The dark blue robe accentuated her eyes, and her hair was simply done, the Royal Coronet carefully placed on her head.

Then the High Minister began the ceremony.  He only spoke a few sentences, and then it was Padmé's cue.

"I, Padmé Amidala Naberrie," she started, "Queen of the People of Naboo, do willingly relinquish my throne unto you, Sabé Belacque, Lady of the Royal Court."

Sabé curtseyed deeply.  "I, Sabé Belacque," she spoke, controlling the trembling in her voice and continuing, "Lady of the Royal Court, do willingly take the Royal Throne from you, Padmé Amidala Naberrie.  I swear to protect our People to the best of my ability, to not tolerate injustice or cruelty, and to always act in Naboo's best interests."  
  


Then Padmé lifted the coronet from her head, stepped forward, and carefully placed it on Sabé's head.  It was heavier than Sabé had expected, and she shared a secret smile with Padmé before the former queen stepped back.

Then Padmé curtseyed, as deeply or deeper than Sabé had, and rose to be enveloped in Sabé's arms for a brief moment.  Padmé grinned as the politicians muttered between each other at this disruption to the ceremony.

"Queen Amidala has stepped down!" cried the High Minister.  "May the Gods bless Queen Sabé!"  Sabé smiled involuntarily, and she and Padmé turned to face the crowds.  Callé limped forward on her crutches, and Sabé knelt to hug her daughter easily.  As holo-cameras snapped, she hid a tear in Callé's shoulder at the loss of her privacy.  

Then she rose, and met Yané's warm eyes.  "Versé and I will get Callé out of here," the young woman mouthed.  Sabé nodded, and whispered something in Callé's ear.  Yané and Versé moved to whisk Callé out of a back entrance, and Sabé and Padmé moved through the crowds to reach the outside of the church.  

A barrage of questions was shot at her amid the noises of Theed once she and Padmé were outside.  Padmé's hand found Sabé's reassuringly, and Sabé took a breath.

"One at a time, please!" she laughingly called.  "I can't hear you all."  There was an uncertain ripple of laughter, then reporters tentatively came forward to ask their questions.

"Your Majesty," one started, "Is it true that you were once Senator Naberrie's handmaiden?"  Sabé smiled slightly.  "Yes, it's true," she acknowledged.  "For only a few weeks when I was sixteen."

Another reporter shoved to the front of the crowd.  "Senator Naberrie, what made you decide to run for senator and not for queen this year, and why did you help Queen Sabé run?"

Padmé smiled.  "I want to take a more active role in the Republic," she replied smoothly.  "And I helped her highness run because Sabé and I have been close friends for over eight years.  She has risked her life for mine on many occasions, and I felt that assisting her was the least I could do."

"Your highness, I don't see your daughter with you now," another probed.  Sabé hid a smile.  "Yes, Callé had a slight accident at her school this morning," she affirmed.  "Hopefully she'll be up and about again in a few weeks."  She paused.  "On which note, I'm afraid I'll have to defer any other questions until a later date to go and see her.  Thank you."

She and Padmé then hurried to a transport that was waiting nearby.  When Cordé and Rabé had closed the doors between their section of the transport and Sabé and Padmé's private area, Sabé sat back in relief, tugging the coronet from her head.

"It's not over yet," Padmé warned with a smile.  "I can bet Captain Panaka will be all over you about handmaidens and security once we're back at the palace."  Her sharp eyes noticed that Sabé's face had closed up slightly when Padmé had said the word 'handmaiden'.  Acutely aware that her own former handmaidens were eagerly awaiting a decision from both Sabé and herself on that subject, she decided to broach it now.

"Have you decided, Sabé?" she inquired, her tone light.  Sabé shook her head.  "I've asked Cordé, Versé and Dormé to come with me.  They've agreed," Padmé told her friend quietly.  "Yané and Rabé have said that they want to resign from Royal service, providing you don't need them.

"I won't let them be my handmaidens," Sabé ground out.  "They're my friends first and above all."  Sabé nodded quietly.  "Who will you have then, Sabé?" she asked.

Sabé sighed heavily.  "I don't know if I even want handmaidens," she admitted.  "It's not like I need the protection, and I only intend to wear head-dresses and robes on formal occasions – celebrations and things.  For those I can just get a couple of palace girls to help me out."  
  


Padmé wasn't shocked by her friend's decision, but as she sat back, she knew Panaka would be.

And, two hours later, he was.  Sabé sat stoically on her new throne as he ranted at her; no one else was in the throne room, and she knew he wouldn't let loose on his temper like that if there was.

"What do you mean, you aren't having handmaidens?" he demanded again at last.  He turned back to face her.  She raised an eyebrow.

"Just what I said, Mark," she told him.  "I'm not going to have any handmaidens.  I don't see the need for them, except to give a handful of girls unnecessary jobs."

"Unnecessary?" Panaka repeated faintly.  Sabé rolled her eyes and rose from the throne, moving over to stand in front of him.  She'd changed long before from the passing-over ceremony dress to a looser, more comfortable gown, but she was still an impressive and graceful sight, especially with her trademark determined look on her face.

"Okay, the reasons for having handmaidens," she started, holding up her hand and ticking off fingers as she listed the reasons.  "One, protection.  For stars sakes, Mark, if I have handmaidens I'll have taught most of them their skills.  Two, to help me with dresses and hair and things.  I don't plan on wearing dresses like Padmé did except for special occasions, in which case I'll get a couple of ladies-in-waiting to help me."  She paused.  "The third reason, which is tradition, is pretty much a dead end with me anyway."

"I hate this," he muttered.  She knew he would agree, and sure enough, he did.  "You'd just better be damn sure, Sabé."  Sabé grinned.  "I'm never anything but," she remarked airily.

********************************************************************************************

Two years later – ten years after _The Phantom Menace.___

********************************************************************************************

When Padmé Naberrie, Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi quietly entered Sabé Belacque's rooms, they moved softly to avoid waking Callé.  Padmé silently nodded to the two Jedi to follow her into Sabé's actual bedroom, but when she got there and reached the bed, she stopped in surprise to see the empty sheets.

"She's not here," she muttered.  "Dammit, Sabé, this is not the time for you to have another burst of insomnia!"  Anakin smiled slightly, but his serious concern for his friend soon erased the smile from his face.

"Where could she be?" Obi-Wan demanded in a low voice.  He stretched out his senses, but he could feel nothing – although, he reflected, she had good mental shielding, from him especially.

"Try right here," came a cool voice from the door. The three midnight intruders whirled around to see Sabé, her long white nightgown making her appear like one of the ghosts of Naboo myth.  "What's the matter, Padmé?"

Padmé noted vaguely that Sabé was avoiding Obi-Wan, but she was in too much of a hurry to grill Sabé on it.  "I need help, Sabé," she said swiftly.  "Someone's trying to assassinate me."

Sabé's eyes flickered to Obi-Wan for a split second.  "Therefore the Jedi escort," she noted.  "Why are you on Naboo – not that I'm not glad to see you," she corrected herself swiftly.

"Anakin and I are going to my home," Padmé replied.  "Obi-Wan's leaving us here to go and follow a lead on the assassin."  Sabé nodded.  "I'll authorise a transport," she told her friend quietly.  "And any other protection you think necessary."

"Thank you," Padmé replied quietly.  She hesitated.  "Anakin, can I have a word?"  She took his hand and moved to the door, then halted beside Sabé, meeting her friend's eyes.  "Sabé – Cordé  - she…"  She licked her lips, not really knowing how to continue.  "I've brought her body back," she managed to say finally.

Sabé gasped and clung to the door post as Anakin and Padmé hurried past her.  Her eyes fluttered closed, then they opened again to meet Obi-Wan's eyes, darker in the shadowy room.

"Hello," she said softly.  A small, bitter smile curved Obi-Wan's lips.  "Hello," he greeted.  She closed her eyes again, and in an instant he was beside her, his arms encircling her, letting her cry a little for Cordé.

"I'm sorry," Sabé managed at last, moving further into her room and drawing a robe over her thin night-gown.  "I just…Cordé talked to me a week ago."

"I understand," Obi-Wan murmured.  Sabé looked at him sharply, then nodded.  This time he really did understand.  She licked her lips, a little nervous of the tension and attraction between them still.

"Sabé – I need to tell you something," Obi-Wan said suddenly.  Sabé, curling herself up in a soft chair next to her bed, nodded at him to continue.  "I still love you."

Sabé's heartbeat stopped for a second.  "Why are you telling me that?" she demanded hoarsely.  "Why?"

"Because I need to know if you still love me," he told her ruthlessly.  "I need to know if…if there's still a chance."  She shook her head, hiding a tear from him.  "There's no chance," she told him, her voice hard.  "I can't be involved with someone who I hardly see – even more so because I'm queen.  You know that, Obi-Wan."

"Do you love me?" he demanded, moving to crouch in front of her.  She nodded silently.  "Can we make it work?"

"No," Sabé murmured softly.  "It will not work, Obi-Wan."  He shrugged.  "I want to give it another try," he told her.  "I have missed you so much I can't say…"

"I've missed you too," she murmured.  Impulsively she leant forward and pressed her lips to his.  Drawing back, she shook her head again.  "It will not work, Obi-Wan."

Staring at her for a moment more, he nodded grimly.  "If that's the way you feel," he murmured.  "I'll respect that."  He rose, and moved to the door, pausing as a sob escaped Sabé.  the queen was being torn apart inside by her decision, but through the confusion, Sabé remembered one thing.

Her promise to Yané.  As Obi-Wan sighed heavily and moved to leave, she rose suddenly, calling to him quietly.  In an instant he was at her side again, and her hand crept up to cup his face.

""I'm sorry," she told him earnestly.  "I thought it was for the best."  He put a finger to her lips.  "Shh, Sabé," he told her softly.  "I know."  His lips met hers, and all the pent-up longing of the last few years was expressed in that one sweet kiss.

Then Padmé and Anakin returned, and Obi-Wan broke away swiftly.  Sabé could hardly conceal her feelings as she looked at her friend.  "I'll call Palace Transport," she told them.  "By the time you get down there, you'll have clearance."

"Thank you, Sabé," Padmé spoke softly.  In one swift motion, the two were hugging.  "Good luck," Sabé whispered to her friend.  "Come back safe to me, 'kay Padmé?"

"I always do," Padmé replied quietly.  She met Sabé's eyes one last time, then she, Anakin and Obi-Wan swiftly left Sabé's rooms.  Sabé, even more tired now that she had been when she'd awoken several hours before, wearily dropped into the chair.

The dim light from a lamp still burning in the main room glinted on a metallic object that rested on her bedside table.  Curiously, Sabé reached out for it, almost laughing when her fingers ran over the familiar texture of her Promise Ring that Obi-Wan had left her.  Carefully, she slid it back onto her finger, and moved to curl up in the bed.  Daybreak would come all too soon, she reasoned quietly to herself, and it would herald a long day.

*********************************************

Three and a half years later (approximately _Episode Three)_

*********************************************

"Force take it, I don't want another estimate!" Sabé snapped.  "I want numbers, names – anything!"  The young governor quailed slightly under her glare, and Sabé forced herself to relax.  She took a breath.  "Find out how many, Governor," she told him quietly.  "How many more have died."

The governor nodded, and hurriedly left the room with a bow.  Sabé rose from the throne and moved to stare out of the large window at Theed.  She could see Naboo hurrying from place to place, no doubt stock-piling in case there was a shortage of food.

Sabé bit her lip, then turned back to the room, the picture of serenity again.  "Please continue your report, Captain," she told Panaka.  He met her eyes for a moment, then nodded.  

"Still no word on where the armies are being cloned," he stated, reading off a datapad.  "Senator Naberrie is currently working with the senators of Alderaan and Kashykk to find the facility, and the Jedi are also following up leads."

Sabé nodded thoughtfully, and Panaka continued.  "They've captured another planet," he told her.  She winced.  "One even closer to the Middle Rims this time."

"They're getting closer," she muttered.  She glanced up again, meeting his eyes.  Whatever she was looking for, she didn't find it, and she glanced around at the other governors.

"Your highness, we must request some protection from the New Republic ships," one governor started urgently.  "Our volunteer corps will not be able to hold their own against these clone armies, which are drawing ever closer to us!"

Sabé raised an eyebrow.  "I have more faith in our troops, Governor.  Perhaps you've forgotten the invasion of thirteen years ago, when Queen Amidala retook the palace with only the help of our volunteer corps and one small boy."

"And Jedi Jinn and Kenobi," another governor chimed in.  Sabé shook her head, a small smile playing on her face.  "There was a Sith here then, Governor," she reminded the governor.  "Jedi will not come for a fear, only for something substantial."

"Knight Kenobi would," someone muttered, not counting on Sabé's hearing.  The queen caught the young aide's words, and her eyes turned icy.

"I hope you are not suggesting I use my personal relationship with Knight Kenobi to insist on his protection," she remarked coolly.  "Because I assure you, even if I were to do such a dishonourable thing, he would never agree to it.  At any event, he is currently the official bodyguard of Senator Naberrie, due to the repeated attempts on her life."

The aide looked suitably chastised, but he had worded the idea that many of Sabé's governors had been thinking about, and they were not so easily dissuaded as the aide had been.  

"Your highness," the governor for the Tarké region started, "is it such a bad idea to ask Knight Kenobi for some measure of protection?  Surely if Senator Naberrie were to return here, at least her husband, Knight Skywalker, would be here to protect Naboo."

"I have spoken to Senator Naberrie about the idea of her returning to Naboo," Sabé admitted heavily.  "But she did not agree, nor will I force her to return against her wishes.  Anakin and Obi-Wan will not come to Naboo unless we need help from the Jedi Council and they are sent, or unless Senator Naberrie returns here and they with her, is that clearly understood?"

"Yes, your highness," murmured the council of governors, and Sabé nodded in satisfaction.  "Good," she murmured.  She was about to say something else when the door slid open, and her fourteen-year-old daughter stepped in uncertainly.  Sabé's face split into a warm smile.  "Well, it seems this meeting is adjourned," she commented.  "I'll see you all at the next meeting, tomorrow morning," she added, as everyone gathered their things and started to leave.  Out of the corner of her eyes she noted that Panaka remained, obviously to talk about her words to the governors.

But she tried to banish all thought of the war with the clones as Callé came walking up to her.  Sabé knew better than to try to embrace her daughter, so she settled with a warm smile.  "Are you on a break?" she inquired.

Callé shrugged.  "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't," she reminded her mother.  Sabé smiled softly, and tried not to remember that when she had been Callé's age, she hadn't attended school at all.

"Have you heard anything from Padmé?" Callé asked suddenly.  Sabé shook her head gravely, standing and moving again to the window.  "She's very busy in the senate," she reminded her daughter.  "But I'm sure if anything happens, she or Obi-Wan will let us know."  

Callé sighed, and moved to stand next to her mother.  Callé was about the same height as her now, Sabé reflected whimsically, but her green eyes transformed her appearance.

"You'd better get back to school," she said at last.  "I have to speak to Captain Panaka."  Callé nodded, and after a slight hesitation, moved away and out of the throne room.  Sabé stood staring out of the window for a moment more, then turned back to Panaka.

"What would you have me do, Mark?" she demanded in a low voice.  "I cannot go against my principles, and Obi-Wan will not either, even if I did ask him to come."

"I know," Panaka replied quietly.  "But I do think that we need more protection –you specifically."  Sabé gave a moan.  "We've been through this," she warned.  "I will not have more protection than I already have, and I _can take care of myself."  
  
_

"Of course, your highness," Panaka replied, a little sarcastically.  Sabé sent him a glare, and he subsided slightly.  Then he changed the subject, at least outwardly.  "I've had a transmission from Ladies Rabé and Yané and Eirtaé, all requesting that they be allowed audience."

"They ought to know they needn't ask," Sabé cried, her eyes twinkling.  "When are they coming?"  Panaka gave a small smile.  "Later tonight," he replied.  "I've ordered that they be taken directly to your rooms."  She grinned.  "You know me too well, Mark," she mildly remarked.  He shrugged slightly, then bowed and left, leaving Sabé to her melancholy thoughts.  

When she returned to her rooms, several hours later and after having taken a long detour to the gym, Yané, Rabé and Eirtaé were all waiting for her.  Callé had gone to stay with a friend, Sabé recalled distantly as her friends hurried her onto a couch, so she needn't expect the girl home.

"It's so good to see you all," she smiled at her friends.  "You guys haven't come up for ages!"  They glanced between each other, then smiled awkwardly.

"Well, I've been a little busy," Eirtaé evaded.  "Jack is three now, you know, and he's quite a handful."  Sabé smiled softly.  "Kids are," she agreed.  "but you look less tired than I was when Callé was that age."  Eirtaé shrugged.  "But Yané, Rabé, you have no such excuse!"

A sad look came over Rabé's face.  "Yes, I do," she contradicted.  "My elder sister and her husband died in a fire three years ago, and I've been looking after their two children ever since."

"Oh, Rabé, why didn't you tell me?" Sabé murmured, stricken.  Rabé shrugged.  "You have a lot on your plate," she replied.  Sabé was suddenly a little suspicious.  "So how come you three are here now?" she demanded uneasily.

Yané bit her lip.  "Padmé asked us to come," she confessed at last.  "She seemed to think that you weren't listening to suggestions that you have more protection.  She was worried."

Sabé's temper flared, but she controlled it as she stood and started pacing rapidly.  "Padmé has no right to do this," she snapped.  "I can take care of myself, you all know it."

Eirtaé sighed and rose.  Her blond hair fell in waves about her face, making her appear older than she was.  "We know it, Sabé," she said softly.  "But it wasn't just Padmé.  Obi-Wan is worried about you too."  Sabé stopped dead, turning back towards her friends.  They were surprised and shocked to see tears on her cheeks.

"I can't worry about myself right now," she whispered.  "Not with Obi-Wan and Padmé out there in the thick of it, and me stuck here, useless!  Now I know how Padmé felt thirteen years ago when we were invaded."  She threw herself down on the couch, and bit her lip to keep from crying any more.

"Oh, Sabé," Yané murmured, moving closer and taking her friend in her arms.  "You mustn't worry so."  Sabé shook her head.  "I have to worry," she said hoarsely.  "I haven't seen Obi-Wan in six months, and I haven't seen Padmé in longer.  What if something happens to one of them?  And then there's Anakin – they're really worried about him now, Yané, and I…"

She broke off, not trusting her voice anymore.  She collected her thoughts whilst Yané, Rabé and Eirtaé looked on sympathetically.  "I can't do this anymore," she said at last.  "I cannot live like this anymore."  She looked up, meeting Rabé's eyes.  Rabé wasn't surprised by the conviction in Sabé's brown eyes, but when Sabé spoke, she was extremely taken aback by the queen's words.

"I want to abdicate," Sabé told them truthfully.   "I was fooling myself when I thought I could be queen, and after five years, I've had more than enough."

Eirtaé took a breath before speaking, and the silence she broke was deafening.  "Are you certain, Sabé?  You know you can't take a second shot at this."

Sabé nodded.  "I know," she replied evenly.  "But I don't want a second shot at it.  You know I always make the most of my first opportunity – you never know if it'll come round again."

"Some things do," Yané sent her a sad smile.  "But not most, you're right."  Sabé nodded, silently thanking Yané for her unspoken support.  Then Rabé spoke.  "You can't abdicate now, Sabé," she warned.  "No one will allow you, not whilst we're in the middle of a war."

Sabé suddenly smiled brilliantly.  "I know," she agreed.  "But it gives me a reason to go on the way I do – once the war is over, I'm going to give up all this," she waved at the room, "and settle down somewhere with Obi-Wan.  We agreed on it a couple of months ago, when he asked me to marry him."

"You're engaged!" Rabé squawked.  Sabé had to laugh at her.  "Not just Promised?"  Sabé nodded.  "Properly engaged," she agreed.  She met Yané's knowing eyes.  "I made a promise to a friend that I wouldn't be proud, so I wasn't," she admitted softly.  Yané smiled warmly at her, then  looked up as Panaka walked hurriedly into the room without pausing to ring the doorchime.

Sabé instantly straightened.  "What is it, Mark?" she demanded, seeing and feeling the worry in him.  "What's happened?"

Panaka took a breath, nodding at the three Ladies before returning to look at his queen and friend.  "We've had news from Coruscant," he admitted quietly.  "Chancellor Palpatine has revealed himself to be Darth Sidious of the Sith, and has declared himself Emperor.  Over half the senate has sided with him."

"But that's not all," Sabé realised with a sick feeling inside.  "What's happened with Anakin?"  Yané, Rabé and Eirtaé all looked at her, then back to Panaka, expectantly awaiting an answer.

"Anakin is Palpatine's apprentice," Panaka managed.  "His name is Darth Vader."  Sabé gasped, the air knocked from her body.  She rose, almost feeling her way to the window.  "Are you sure?" she demanded finally.  Then another thought struck her.  "Padmé, Obi-Wan, where are they?"

"I don't know," Panaka shook his head.  "We've had no word from them – but neither has anyone else, that we know of."  Sabé nodded.  "Thank you, Captain," she said.  "I appreciate you telling us."  Panaka nodded, and after a moment left in the same fashion he had come in.

Sabé fell to the ground, her legs not supporting her anymore.  She didn't weep – she felt as though she had no tears left in her – but she shook her head sadly.  "Oh, Anakin," she murmured.  "What have you done?"

Eirtaé rose and moved to help her to the couch.  Sabé smiled tiredly at her, and shook her head again.  "They expected something like this to happen to him," she confessed softly.  "Obi-Wan especially was worried about him."  Her heart wrenched again.  "Oh, Padmé…"

"Do you think she'll come back here?" Rabé inquired quietly.  Sabé shook her head.  "He'd know to come here," she explained.  "She'll have to go somewhere that neither Anakin or Palpatine would know to look.  They'll be looking for her, because she's one of the most influential senators."

Yané nodded.  "What about you"? she demanded then.  "Won't Anakin come looking for you, so that he can hurt Obi-Wan?"  Sabé met her eyes, then rose and moved to a drawer, opening it and drawing out a long metal cylinder.  She pressed a button on the side, and a deep blue blade emerged from the hilt.  

"Just let him try," she told them determinedly.  "Let him try."

*********************************************


	13. The Story of a Thief - part 13

********************************************* Chrissie Bligh Normal Chrissie Bligh 1 0 2001-11-02T15:59:00Z 2001-11-02T16:01:00Z 9 2981 16997 HP 141 33 20873 9.2720 Print 75 

*********************************************

For two weeks Sabé, Yané, Eirtaé, Rabé and Panaka waited for word from Padmé.  With growing worry they heard the reports of Palpatine's increasing hold on the Republic military.  With horror they heard reports of Anakin – or Darth Vader, as he was now known – hunting down and destroying the Jedi.  As worried as she was for Padmé, Sabé grew more and more sacred and worried as they heard reports of Jedi falling – even Masters and members of the council.  

Sabé didn't shed a tear, even when she heard of the death of Mistress Adi Gallia, her friend and mentor.  She remained calm and serene for her people, reassuring them that they would be safe.  She kept all news from Callé, a decision which was unanimously supported by her friends.

And then one day a ship almost crashed onto Naboo.  Sabé had felt Obi-Wan, Padmé, Dormé and Versé in it long before they reach the planet, and so she had security guards to escort them to the palace in complete secrecy.

When Padmé arrived at the palace, Sabé couldn't help but show her shock and surprise.  Padmé was pregnant.  When the friends met eyes, Sabé nodded silently, and hugged her tightly.  Then she kissed Obi-Wan as Yané, Rabé and Eirtaé greeted their friend.  She nodded to Dormé and Versé, and led them all up to her rooms, where Callé was asleep.

"What do you need?" Sabé asked with no preamble.  Padmé's hand drifted down to her stomach.  "Protection," she replied tightly.  "From Anakin and Palpatine.  Neither of them know that I'm pregnant."

"Her twins are extremely Force-sensitive," Obi-Wan interjected.  "Once born, if they stay together Anakin will find them.  We can't allow that to happen, Sabé."

Sabé nodded.  "How far along are you?" she asked calmly.  Padmé replied seven months.  "So we hide you here until they're born, then Obi-Wan takes them and separates them – maybe take one to Alderaan, he despises the Organas, and maybe take the other to Tatooine – you know he swore he'd never set foot there again after his mother died."

"I wouldn't be able to see them," Padmé murmured.  Then she nodded resolutely.  "I'll go and stay with the Organas for a while," she decided.  "And Obi-Wan, would you look over my child on Tatooine?  We can leave him or her with the Lars', but they won't…" A sob cut her off, and her handmaidens, former and present, converged on her.  

Except Sabé.  Sabé was standing, her arms hugging her upper body, by the window, blank eyes gazing out at the dark city of Theed.  As her friends in the room finally realised that Sabé was standing there, they fell silent and looked up at her.  Sabé didn't acknowledge them at all, turning only when the door to Callé's room slid open and the dark-haired girl stepped sleepily through.

"What's going on?" she complained, rubbing her eyes.  When she opened her eyes again, she let out a cry and moved to hug Padmé.  Padmé hugged her 'niece' back, and smiled gently at her.

"Callé, go back to bed," Sabé said tiredly.  "It's late, you have school tomorrow."  Callé moved back from Padmé confusedly.  "What's going on?" she repeated.  Padmé wouldn't meet her eyes, neither would any of the other women.  Obi-Wan shifted uncomfortably on his feet, but looked at Sabé.  They all knew this was her call, whether or not it would affect Padmé more.

"Go to bed, Callé," Sabé repeated.  Callé shook her head.  "Not until you tell me what's going on," she insisted.  Sabé turned back to the window abruptly.  "No, Callé," she snapped.  "This is nothing to do with you."

"If it's to do with you all, of course it's to do with me," Callé reminded her mother angrily.  "Shazit, I'm your daughter!"  Sabé whirled around, her eyes blazing.  "Yes, Callé, you are," she agreed.  "And it's because you're my daughter that I don't want you to have anything to do with this!"

She took a moment to calm herself.  "Go back to bed, Callé," she ordered.  "Don't get involved with this."  Callé stared at her for a moment more, then turned and angrily flounced out and into her bedroom.  Sabé turned back to the window, again ignoring her friends.

"You should have told her," Dormé spoke up.  Sabé didn't acknowledge the words, but her eyes closed as a silent tear fell.  Then she wiped it away and turned resolutely back to the room.

"We need to find somewhere safe for you," she told Padmé.  "You can't stay here, Anakin wouldn't think to here first."  Her eyes suddenly lit up.  "There's a safe house, about three miles from here.  No one knows anything about it – you could go stay there with Dormé, Versé, and Obi-Wan."

"No," Obi-Wan spoke up.  Sabé glanced at him.  "I'm not leaving you here defenceless, Sabé.  Not again."  Sabé shook her head, a small smile on her face.  "I'm hardly defenceless," she reminded him.  "And I can't leave here."

"If it will make you feel better," Yané spoke up, "Rabé and I can stay here."  She raised an eyebrow at Sabé.  "If that's okay with everyone, that is?"

"I'm staying too," Eirtaé said determinedly.  "I can't leave either one of you in this situation, and you know it."

"I know it," Sabé murmured.  She looked up and met Obi-Wan's eyes again, trying to smile.  "See?" she told him in a small voice.  "I'll be fine."  Then she took control of her feelings again.  "Padmé, you'd better go now, before anyone realises you're here.  Dormé, Versé, you both go with her."  The handmaidens nodded instantly.  "Rabé, Eirtaé, Yané, you're fine to stay here tonight?  Your old rooms are waiting for you."  The three smiled and nodded.   

"I'm staying here tonight," Obi-Wan spoke up.  Sabé looked up at him and nodded.  "You go tomorrow," she cautioned.  He nodded.  "Let's get moving," she ordered then.  Instantly the room was a bustle of activity as Dormé, Versé and Padmé put their cloaks back on and Sabé found a data-map and highlighted their destination.  Rabé, Eirtaé and Yané moved into their respective rooms, and Obi-Wan removed his cloak and lightsaber.

When finally the room had emptied of all but Sabé and Obi-Wan, she allowed herself to relax in his arms.  "Gods, I missed you," she murmured.  "I was so worried, Obi-Wan."

"I know, my love," he soothed.  He smoothed her hair back from her face, and managed a smile.  "I missed you too."  Then their lips met, and they moved through to Sabé's bedroom.

********************************************************************************************

Two months later, Padmé Naberrie-Skywalker gave birth to two babies, whom she named Luke and Leia.  As Sabé, Yané, Eirtaé, Rabé and Versé helped Padmé recover from the difficult birth, Obi-Wan took Luke to Tatooine to Anakin's step-brother Owen Lars, and Dormé took Leia to Bail Organa on Alderaan.  

Sabé sat by Padmé's bed as her friend gradually woke up in the early morning.  Across the bed, Yané, Rabé, Eirtaé and Versé all sat, making sure their friend was still fine.  Sabé anxiously watched the chronometer; she had to get back to the palace before anyone missed her.

"You ought to go," Rabé spoke up, voicing Sabé's thoughts.  Sabé nodded.  "Not until Padmé's awake," she said firmly.  A feeling of nausea rose up in her, and she hurriedly stood, reaching the 'fresher just in time to throw up her breakfast.

When she returned to Padmé's bed, she looked even paler than she had before, if that was possible, and she sat down weakly in her chair.

"What's the matter?" Yané demanded.  "Are you sick?"  Reluctantly, Sabé shook her head.  "No," she replied.  "I'm not ill."  She paused.  "I'm pregnant."

The four opposite her stared, and she was glad when Padmé stirred, opening her eyes and smiling weakly up at her friend.  "I heard that," Padmé croaked.  "Congratulations."  Sabé smiled faintly.  "Thanks," she replied softly.  "I appreciate that."

She leant down, pressing a kiss to Padmé's forehead, and helped her friend sit up.  "I'm hungry," the senator confessed.  "Can I get something to eat?"

"You must be feeling better," Versé remarked, standing up.  "What would you like?"  Padmé shrugged.  "I don't mind," she replied.  "Oh, and can I get up?"

Sabé rolled her eyes, rising, then froze.  "Oh Gods," she murmured.  "He's here."  Her eyes met the others' eyes, then she made a decision.  "Padmé, can you walk?"

Padmé gave a small shrug.  "I will even if I shouldn't," she said.  Sabé nodded, and Rabé helped her friend stand shakily, helping her into a tunic and leggings similar to the ones the women were all wearing.

"Padmé, can you reach the wood?" Sabé demanded then.  Padmé nodded.  "Good.  There's a Gungan platform there.  There should be a bongo and at least one Gungan; get down to Otoh Gunga and stay there until one of us comes."

"No, Sabé," Padmé protested.  "I can't ask you to do that."  Sabé's eyes flashed.  "You're not asking," she said abruptly.  "I'm ordering.  The Gungans adore you, they'll protect you no matter what the cost."  She met Padmé's eyes and tried a different argument.  "If he sees you, he'll know you were pregnant," she reminded her friend.  Padmé nodded reluctantly.

"What do we do?" Eirtaé asked quietly. Sabé smiled tightly.  "Stall him," she replied.  "Let's go."

Within minutes Padmé had left shakily, and Sabé was leading her friends through the deserted streets of Theed.  She could feel Vader coming closer, his presence like a black spot in the Force, and urged her limbs to move faster.

When they finally reach the palace, they moved through to the Palace Wardrobe, where the old handmaiden robes were stored.  Yané instantly understood what her queen had in mind.

"Eirtaé, we'll have to die your hair," Yané smiled tightly.  "And quickly."  Eirtaé nodded, and the two grabbed their old flame-coloured robes and sprinted through the palace to their rooms to die Eirtaé's blond locks to a dark brown and to insert brown lenses over her blue eyes.  

In the Wardrobe, the women quickly pulled their robes onto them, understanding what Sabé was planning.  They painted their faces as Padmé had always when she was queen, white with the red dots and Scar of Remembrance, and made their way to the Armoury, ignoring stares they elicited, and grabbing at least two blasters each.  

Then Sabé took them up to her rooms, where Yané and Eirtaé were waiting for them.  Versé handed them four blasters, and Sabé retrieved her lightsaber from her room. 

  
"A last reserve," she promised her friends on their looks.  She took a breath.  The dark blot that was Vader's presence drew even nearer, and then she could feel him landing and closing in on the palace.  "Show time, girls."  

Moving swiftly, instinctively knowing where to stand, the six formed two lines.  They walked out of Sabé's rooms, and started through the palace.

Panaka was rounding a corner when he saw them.  The astonishment on his face was enough to make Yané giggle nervously.  Five identical faces rounded on her, and she bit her lip.

  
"What's going on?" Panaka demanded.  "Sabé?"  Reluctantly, Sabé stepped forward.  "Vader is here," she revealed.  "We're covering for Padmé.  Get as many people out of the palace as you can, Mark.  Don't stay."

Then she returned to her place in the block, and they moved past him, hearing him contact the Security Office to start evacuation procedures.

They moved silently through the palace to the throne room, then halted.  Sabé could feel Vader come ever closer.

"Won't he be able to sense us?" Versé demanded.  Sabé gave a tight smile.  "Not if I shield us," she replied grimly.  "Everyone, take your seats."

Without another word, they all split and went to their old seats behind the throne.  Sabé could feel all their contrasting emotions, then she Force-blanketed them all so Vader could not tell them apart.

And then they waited.  The seconds ticked by, seeming like minutes to the waiting 'handmaidens', and Sabé could help twitching occasionally.  Then the dark shadow of Vader's presence swooped closer, and Anakin stepped into the thrown room.

Instantly the faces of the six women were impassive, revealing nothing, just as they had all been taught so many years before.  They scarcely breathed as Anakin stopped short on seeing them, and they kept absolutely still as he stalked closer to them.

"How very funny," he remarked.  His voice had changed, Sabé realised, even if his appearance had not.  His voice was slightly deeper, silkier, more evil, if that was even possible.  "Five handmaidens, all in a row.  But there aren't five of you.  And I know you all."

None of them spoke.  Rabé, to the far right, struggled to regulate her breath as Anakin moved closer to her, smiling slightly.  "Let's see," he mused.  "Not Sabé, I'd know her…not Yané either…that means either Rabé, Dormé or Versé."  He moved back, surveying them all.  "Unless, of course, one of you is Padmé, which I highly doubt."  
  


Still they remained silent, and now Yané could see that he was growing more angry, more frustrated.  He turned back towards the door, then without warning threw up a hand and the chairs around the table scattered.  Versé flinched.  Eirtaé glanced warningly at her.

"Talk to me!" Anakin exploded.  "Where is Padmé?"  As one, as though they had decided this before, the five women rose.  Anakin halted when he caught sight of their motion, but they still didn't speak.

Then they broke ranks and ran for the door, blasters out and shooting at him.  Sabé couldn't be sure, but some of the shots came perilously close to hitting him.  then his lightsaber was out, the green blade deflecting the shots, and then the handmaidens were running through the corridors, splitting up, allowing their training to take over their actions.  

Yané and Versé moved together, Eirtaé and Rabé together, and Sabé moving alone between the two pairs.  Anakin was following Eirtaé and Rabé, but he was vaguely following the other three as well.  Sabé silently trailed him, keeping the Force-blanket over her friends and her hand resting on her blaster.

Then he stopped, and turned sharply down another corridor, moving towards her.  She licked her lips, then drew her blaster and levelled it at his head as he came into her sight.

"I wouldn't come any closer, Anakin," she told him, her voice easily falling back into the regal tones that Padmé had taught her years before.  "I'm a good shot."

He nodded slowly in satisfaction.  "I know you are…Sabé."  Sabé smiled grimly; out of the corner of her eye she saw Yané, Rabé, Eirtaé and Versé drawing closer, their blasters all aimed at Anakin.  Anakin must have seen them too, but he didn't acknowledge them.

"Where is my wife?" Anakin demanded at last.  Sabé smiled faintly.  "You claim to know us so well, Anakin," she chastised him.  "And yet you think we will betray her for you?"

"We betray her for no one," Rabé spoke up, moving to stand next to Sabé.  "Least of all you."  His eyes flickered with recognition, and he murmured her name.

"Where is she?" he demanded again.  Yané moved to stand next to her friends, her eyes blazing as theirs did.  "We tell you, Anakin," she ground out, "we will not betray her for anyone."

"And if we did betray her," Eirtaé added, "we would willingly die for it."  She and Versé moved to stand next to the others.

Anakin nodded thoughtfully.  Then Versé's blaster flew from her grip into his hand, and he shot her.  The youngest of them didn't have a chance to scream as she hit the ground, dead.  The hall was instantly full of blaster fire as the handmaidens, enraged, shot at the man they had once called friend.

They retreated back through the corridors to the front of the palace, several floors up.  They could see people gathered at the bottom of the huge palace steps, but spared them no more than half a thought as Anakin followed them, his lightsaber easily deflecting the shots.

As the blaster fire and the ensuing cloud of smoke filled the huge corridor, there was a cry, and Sabé could see the green blade of Anakin's lightsaber cut through a shadowy form that she realised with horror was Rabé.  She met Yané's eyes, and Eirtaé's, then stood from her crouch and faced Anakin again, her blaster aiming at him.  She knew the shots would have found their target if he didn't have his lightsaber, but the fact was he had it, and there was nothing she could do about that.

Then, as she and the remaining two continued to fire, an idea came to her.  She moved back, and motioned Yané and Eirtaé to follow her through a door, which she then locked, closing the blast doors after them.

"I'm going to face him," she said breathlessly as they heard his saber cutting through the door.  "I can fight him, I beat Obi-Wan two bouts out of three."

"Anakin is better than Obi-Wan," Eirtaé hissed.  "I am not letting you do this, Sabé."  Sabé shook her head.  "You have no choice," she insisted.  "Yané, go to Padmé, get her off the planet.  Eirtaé, get out of here, you have a family."

"So did Rabé," Eirtaé returned sharply.  "I'm not leaving you, Sabé."  Sabé met her eyes, then nodded.  "Get out of here, Yané – get Padmé to safety."

Yané hesitated for less than a second, then she quickly embraced Sabé and Eirtaé and ran through the corridors to leave the palace.   Sabé and Eirtaé gripped hands, then turned and faced the doors, which Anakin cut through in only a matter of minutes.

Sabé's lightsaber was gripped in her right hand, and she pressed the red button as soon as she could see Anakin's face, activating the deep blue blade.  Eirtaé shot off a volley of bolts, which Anakin casually deflected with his blade.  One of them tore into Eirtaé, and the handmaiden dropped with a gasp, writhing for a moment on the floor before growing still.  

Sabé looked at Anakin, her face revealing nothing.  As the Sith apprentice moved over to check which one he had killed, he raised an eyebrow.  "Eirtaé," he mused.  "I never would have known."  He raised his head to meet Sabé's eyes.  "But that was your intention, wasn't it?"

Sabé forced herself to shrug casually.  "We are handmaidens," she reminded him stiffly.  "We do what is necessary."  He let out a laugh.  "You're a queen," he reminded her.  "Surely she ought to serve you, not the other way around?"

"I don't need to explain myself to you," she spat disgustedly.  She raised her blade.  "Come on, Anakin.  Let's see which of us is best."  He stood, still hovering over Eirtaé's prone body.  "Very well," he said calmly.  "I hope you're prepared to die."

"I always am," Sabé returned.  Then he lunged, and she blocked his blade calmly.  That started a complicated dance that neither seemed to be winning for a long time.  Anakin pushed her backwards, then she attacked and pushed him back.  Then she defended herself, allowing him to wear himself down with his useless attacks until he was tired enough for her to be able to slip a killing blow through his defence.

That moment never came.  With a complicated move, he flipped her lightsaber out of her hands and kicked her to the floor.  She gasped as she hit the marble floor, not falling as she should have, and looked up to see his blade coming down on her –

Only to be stopped by a blue blade, held by Obi-Wan Kenobi.  Anger flashed in Anakin's eyes as Sabé scrambled to safety behind Obi-Wan, calling her blade to her hand.

"Hurting her serves no purpose, Anakin," Obi-Wan remarked lightly.  "Nor did the deaths of the others."  Sabé flinched, then followed the command she heard ringing through her head.

_Get to safety!  She ran through the palace, following his silent command, and sending back one of her own, although she wasn't sure if he would hear it, as the battle with Anakin had already started.  __Be careful!___

And then she was outside the palace, and in Panaka's safe arms, gasping and staring up at the palace windows, where she could see two dark figures and two glowing lightsabers, moving back and forth across the corridor.

"What happened?" Panaka demanded.  "Where are the others?"  Sabé turned dull eyes up to meet his.  "Oh Gods, Sabé, not all of them – Rabé, Eirtaé, Versé, Yané?"

But Sabé shook her head.  "Yané's getting Padmé to safety," she rasped.  "She and Dormé and I – we're the last handmaidens left."  She looked up again, and her heart wrenched as she felt Obi-Wan fighting body and soul with his former apprentice and friend.

"Obi-Wan and Anakin?" Panaka demanded, following her gaze.  Sabé silently nodded, then turned as a woman came running up.  "Dormé," she murmured.  Dormé met her eyes and instantly knew what had happened.  They fell into each other's arms, and wept for their friends. 

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	14. The Story of a Thief - part 14

********************************************* Chrissie Bligh Normal Chrissie Bligh 1 1 2001-11-02T16:01:00Z 2001-11-02T16:03:00Z 8 2605 14852 HP 123 29 18239 9.2720 Print 75 

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"I have already said, Vader, I will not tell you where Padmé is."  Wearily, Sabé leant back in the chair that she had been provided with and gazed up at the masked man that stood in front of her.  "Even if I knew, I would not tell, as you know."

He nodded silently, and glanced at Dormé and Yané, who stood just behind Sabé's chair, their hands bound.  Their eyes were downcast; unlike Sabé, they would not look at him.  

"I can give you control of Naboo, within reason," Vader said suddenly.  Sabé looked up at him sharply.  "Why would you do that?" she demanded sarcastically.  "We're against everything that you stand for."

"It's the best way to keep you out of trouble," he argued.  "And besides, Padmé may return here."  Yané couldn't stifle a dry chuckle then.  "And you think we would tell you, just so that Sabé can remain an iconic queen of our people?" she demanded.  "How disloyal do you think we are?"

"Three of you are already dead at my hand," he reminded her sharply.  "Don't push me to make it four."  She glared at him, but subsided.  "And no, I have had enough experience with your loyalty to know that you will not reveal her location even under duress."

"Then why?" Sabé demanded wearily.  "Why would you let me remain as queen?"  He considered her for a moment.  "Because Naboo will follow no one else," he admitted.  "And the Naboo can be a powerful people if they have the right leaders, which they do in the three women sitting in this room.  However, if Sabé is the official leader, they will follow her, and thus the Emperor."

"I will not serve him," Sabé warned.  He nodded.  "I know.  It doesn't matter.  Either you follow his laws and orders, or you die.  I trust you will make the right decision."  Sabé shook her head.  "I have no choice," she remarked.  "I will rule Naboo.  Now let us leave."

He nodded, and opened the door for them.  Then, as they were passing through, he caught her arm.  "Do not go against him, Sabé," he warned her.  "You will find that we can be powerful allies."

She shot him a dirty look, then Dormé and Yané hurried her out before she could say anything she would come to regret.

For the next twenty four years Naboo remained peaceful enough.  Stormtroopers became a regular sight, and Vader visited at least once every six months to check up on Sabé, but otherwise Naboo was left to its own devices.  There were a few shoot-outs with rebelling Naboo over the years, but Sabé always managed to calm them.

And then, twenty-three and a half years after Luke and Leia had been separated at birth, the news came that the Emperor and Vader were dead, and that the Empire was defeated by the rebellion.  

Six months later, Sabé was in the throne room quietly talking with Yané, Dormé, and Callé, when the news came that a New Republic delegation had arrived to talk to the leaders of Naboo.  

"Why in the Force?" Sabé demanded quietly of the messenger.  "Did they give a reason – and who are they?"

"They said that they had to come because Palpatine came from here, your highness." the messenger replied, a little apologetically.  Sabé exchanged glances with Yané and Dormé.  The head-dress she wore moved softly with her.  The white makeup she wore to honour her dead friends suddenly felt thick and heavy on her face.  

"And who are they?" she inquired.  The messenger checked the datapad he held.  "General Han Solo, Chewbacca of Kashykk, Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, and Commander Luke Skywalker."  He hesitated.  "And two droids."

Sabé froze.  She couldn't speak, was even having trouble breathing.  Yané, seeing her discomfort, nodded at the messenger.  "Thank you," she told him.  "Please have them escorted up."

"Luke and Leia," Sabé managed finally.  "Gods, Yané, Luke and Leia – together, here!"  Yané nodded, moving to hold Sabé's hand soothingly.  "Don't worry," she grinned, her face seeming younger.  "We'll be fine."

Dormé glanced at Callé.  "Callé," she started, "could you -,"  Callé interrupted her with a smile.  "I know the drill," she nodded.  "I'll see you all later."  She sauntered out of the throne room, passing the New Republic delegate as she did so.

Sabé straightened on her throne, and Yané returned to her seat opposite Dormé, on Sabé's left.  All of them knew at once who Padmé's children were, because of the similarities in their appearance to their parents.

But Sabé ignored the fact that they were the twins for whom so many of her friends had died.  She nodded regally at them.  "I am Queen Sabé of the Naboo," she greeted formally.  "Welcome."

"Thank you," Leia curtseyed.  "We appreciate you seeing us at such short notice."  Sabé inclined her head slightly.  "I am Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan."

"I know who you are, Princess," Sabé returned, a little cooler than she had intended.  Leia looked a little taken aback, but nodded.  "This is General Solo," she introduced the slightly scruffy-looking man just behind her.  Sabé tried her best to ignore the waves of love emanating off both of them.  "Chewbacca of Kashykk."  Sabé nodded gravely at the large Wookie, who gave a short bark in return.  "Commander Skywalker."  Sabé's sharp eyes met Luke's familiar blue ones.  "And our droids, C-3PO and R2-D2."  Sabé felt like laughing at the old droids.

Dormé and Yané exchanged glances behind Sabé's throne.  "Welcome to Naboo," Sabé remarked finally.  "I hope you don't mind if I ask why you are here?"

"Of course," Leia smiled diplomatically.  "The New Republic is sending out delegations to all Middle Rim planets, to formally greet them and welcome them into the New Republic, if they so choose."  She hesitated.  "Of course, the fact that Emperor Palpatine came from this planet is a major factor in the reason why we came here so speedily."

"Of course," Yané felt compelled to say dryly.  "Judge a whole planet on one man's actions."  "Yané!" Sabé snapped.  "Please, control yourself!"  Yané looked a little abashed.  "My apologies, your highness," she murmured.  Sabé looked back at Leia.

"I apologise for Yané, your highness," she said.  "I'm afraid we all feel rather strongly about Palpatine."  Leia nodded reassuringly.  "It's to be expected," she replied, more for her companions' benefit than for Sabé's.

Sabé glanced over the six again, then her gaze rested lightly on Luke.  "Jedi are not common these days," she remarked.  She saw Han stiffen slightly.  She waved a hand in his direction.  "I am not a Sith or a Dark Jedi, General, please do not treat me as such."  She looked again at Luke, but decided against saying anything more.

"Let me show you to your rooms," she said at last.  Leia opened her mouth to protest, but Sabé fixed her with a stare.  "Please, your highness," the older woman smiled warmly.  "It is my pleasure."  She rose from the throne, and Yané and Dormé were instantly by her side.

She walked slowly through the palace, exchanging diplomatic pleasantries with Leia, aware of Luke and Han's gazes on her back.  When they reach the rooms that Sabé had decided the visitors would use, Dormé sucked in a breath.

Sabé keyed open the door and walked into the large quarters that had at one time been Padmé's, and after that, her own.  They had been re-decorated after the near-massacre of twenty-four years earlier into creams and whites totally unlike Padmé's original deep reds, blue and purples.  

Once everyone was in the room, she gestured at the doors leading off into the separate bedrooms.  "There are bedrooms through each of those doors," she explained.  "Computer access from in here, and power outlets for the droids."

But she realised that none of them were really listening to her; they were staring up at a huge portrait that Sabé hadn't known was hung in here.

She gasped, and gripped the back of a chair for support.  Instantly all eyes turned towards her, and with a lot of effort she controlled herself again.  "I apologise," she managed.  "I had no idea that picture was in here."

"Who are they?" Luke asked quietly.  She barely glanced at him, her eyes on the portrait of six young women, all laughing together merrily.  "Is that you?"

"Yes," Sabé replied quietly.  "One of them is me.  One is Yané."  Yané nodded gravely when Leia glanced at her.  "The others are all dead."

"Who killed them?" Leia pressed, somehow sensing that this was possibly the key to negotiations with Naboo.  Sabé glanced at her, her eyes revealing a little of her bitterness.

"One of them was killed in an accident," she replied.  "The others were killed by your father, Darth Vader."  Dormé made a sound.  She inclined her head apologetically towards her friend.  "You're right, Dormé, one was killed by Palpatine."

Luke and Leia's faces were pale.  Han was watching all of them in confusion, and Chewbacca wasn't following any of it.  Dormé and Yané sighed, and Sabé turned abruptly away from all of them.

"I hope to see you all at dinner this evening," she told them curtly.  "I'll answer your questions then.  Dormé, come with me."  With that, she and Dormé swept out of the room.  Yané, knowing why Sabé had allowed her to stay, looked one more time at the portrait then turned back to the three humans who were staring at her, waiting for answers.

"You'd better sit down," she suggested kindly.  "This may all come as a bit of a shock."  Luke, Leia and Han did as she suggested, and Yané took a seat on a couch opposite them, facing away from that painful portrait.

"How does she know about our father?" Luke demanded instantly.  Yané glanced at him.  "Because she was one of his best friends," she told him gently.  "As was I, and all but one of the other women in that portrait."

"Who was the one?" Leia asked quietly.  Yané smiled a sad smile.  "Padmé Naberrie."  There, she thought, she'd said the name that hadn't been spoken in the palace for so many years.  "She was Queen Amidala for eight years before Sabé was voted in.  She was also Anakin Skywalker's wife, and your mother."

Utter silence filled the room.  Yané gave a sigh, and leant back on the couch.  Then Han broke the silence.  "How does Queen Sabé fit into all of this?" he demanded roughly.  "I mean, other than knowing Luke and Leia's parents."

"She was Obi-Wan Kenobi's Promised – his fiancée," she explained.  "She lost his child in her last fight with Anakin – or Vader as he was by then.  We lost our best friends in that fight – he killed three of us handmaidens then."  Tears filled her eyes, but she resolutely brushed them away.  "But you had better ask her about that.  She prefers telling her own story – and she has a greater story even than Padmé's.  She'll tell you that one too – they were the best of friends."

"Is she a Jedi?" Luke questioned then.  Yané nodded.  "But that's a sore point with her," she warned.  "Don't push for answers to any of these questions if she doesn't want to give them to you at first.  She hasn't spoken of any of it for over twenty years, and that's a lot of pain to be carrying alone."

She rose, and was about to leave when Leia called out to her.  "Did you know Palpatine too?"  the temperature of the room suddenly seemed to drop several degrees.  Yané slowly turned around to face her.  "Yes," she replied softly, bitterly.  "I knew Palpatine.  We all did.  Padmé even called for the vote of no confidence that got him voted in.  But save your questions for Sabé.  She's the politician around here – I'm just the cynic."

She didn't wait to hear their reactions, she just moved swiftly out of the room and into the corridor, where she pressed herself against the cool wall in an attempt to control herself again.

*********************************************

Several hours later, Dormé came to escort the New Republic people to dinner.  Her handmaiden hood covered her eyes, and she didn't attempt to look at any of them, merely leading them through to the small dining-room that Sabé used for most of her meals.

Callé and Yané were already seated there, and when Callé saw Luke and Leia, she stilled.  Then she gave a smile.

"I'm Callé Belacque," she introduced.  Yané gave a small cough.  "Oh, alright, Yané – Princess Callé.  Sabé is my mother."

Han frowned slightly.  "I thought you said she lost her child?" he demanded of Yané.  Callé looked down slightly.  "She did," she replied curtly for Yané.  "I was born before she met Obi-Wan."

Dormé gestured for the four to take a seat, which they did, then Dormé sat down opposite Yané.  "Where is she?" she mouthed.  Yané gave a small shrug.

After a moment, Yané turned to Callé.  "Callé, do you know where she went?" she inquired,  Callé met her eyes then look down.  "Yes," she admitted quietly.  "She went down to the crypt."

"What?" Yané almost shrieked.  Luke look up sharply at her.  "And you let her, Callé?"  "I couldn't exactly stop her," Callé snapped.  "No one can when she gets like that."

"Gets like what?" Leia ventured.  Dormé looked at her, then shook her head.  "You wouldn't understand," she said in a hard voice.  "Just because you are the children of our friends doesn't mean that you understand anything."

"Dormé, that isn't important right now," Yané told her sharply, standing.  "We have to get down to the crypt before she tries anything stupid again."

"She left over an hour ago," Callé confessed.  Dormé turned pale, and joined Yané as they hurried from the room.  Callé looked at Han, Luke, Leia and Chewbacca, then shook her head.  "You two may come," she told the twins.  "I'm afraid General Solo and Chewbacca must remain here.  I'll get the food brought up so you can start eating."

Then she moved gracefully from the room, followed by Luke and Leia.  The princess led them down through the palace to the darker under-levels, lighting torches as she went.

Finally they caught up with Yané and Dormé, who stood uncertainly outside a crypt.  Callé, a little breathlessly, demanded what they were waiting for.

"Listen," Yané ordered, shaking her head.  The hall fell silent, and the quiet sobs from the crypt could be heard.

Inside the crypt, Sabé knew they were there, but she couldn't stop her tears.  It was always that way, she reflected.  She would go for months without crying, and then it would start and she wouldn't be able to stop.

She leant against the cold stone, her fingers resting against the carved words.  She knew them by heart, yet still she moved back slightly to read them through her tears.

"Saché Michak," she read softly.  "She found the peace we seek."  Spurred on by those words, she read the next one, aware that the door had opened and that Yané, Dormé, Callé, Luke and Leia were watching her silently.  "Cordé Marsé.  Fortune favours the brave.  Versé Singe.  She found the confidence to help us all.  Rabé Ticla.  She sought a peace in death.  Eirtaé Mazioné.  The Gods blessed her, and she blessed us with her love."  Then her voice grew choked.  "Padmé Naberrie.  We loved her like a sister.  Obi-Wan Kenobi.  The greatest Knight the Force has seen, although he never knew it."  

She rose, and turned around to face the group.  Her white makeup was streaked by her hot tears, and her eyes seemed larger from the red rims around them.  "He killed all but Saché, in one way or another," she told the twins.  "He killed them so that you and your mother could get to safety.  Obi-Wan died so that you could escape."

Leia started to speak.  "You can't blame -,"  But Sabé held up a hand to stop her.  "Do you know what the most ironic thing is?" she demanded.  "I would do it again, for her.  She gave me back my life, so I gave her a life – her life."

Yané and Dormé moved to help her when she stumbled against the wall, but she waved them away with a sad smile.  "Don't worry about me," she told them quietly.  "I'll be fine."  
  


She felt the waves of confusion flowing off Luke and Leia, and looked up at them.  "I don't blame you" she told them gently.  "I'm just thankful you have ended up together, safe and knowing your family."

"We don't know them yet," Leia spoke up softly.  "Will you tell us?"  Sabé considered her for a moment, then nodded.  "Not here," she said decidedly.  "The sacred sanctuary.  That's the right place for it."

Yané nodded in agreement, and took the lead, exiting the lower levels by a side door and moving through the gardens to the sanctuary where so many of her friends had been burned.  The others followed her, but Sabé slipped up to her room to change first, cleansing her face of the makeup and changing to a dark blue gown that reflected her sobriety.

Then she joined them, slipping in the door and gazing around.  Luke and Leia sat together on the bottom step; Yané sat against a wall, and Dormé stood by the door.  Callé was sitting opposite Luke and Leia, watching all of them.

Sabé stepped up to the funeral pyre and raked her fingers through the years-old ash that had collected in the bottom.  She lifted some of it and allowed it to drain through her fingers, reminiscent of her actions some thirty-seven years before, when she had been told she was Force-sensitive.  The five already sitting allowed her the moment in silence, then when Sabé sighed, the moment ended.

"Tell us," Luke urged quietly.  Sabé looked at him with a smile, then moved to sit on a cold step.  "I can't tell you the beginning of Padmé's story," she started, "because I don't know it.  But I can tell you the beginning of my story, at least where it concerns Padmé, Obi-Wan, and Anakin.  Because we four have had entwined destinies from the moment we met each other, I think."

She took a breath, gathered her thoughts.  "It was three days after Queen Amidala had been crowned.  The whole planet was still in a state of celebration.  In Theed Palace, dressmakers fluttered around the new queen, who bore their chatter with patience.  In the Palace Armoury, four girls were having their introduction to blaster pistols…"

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End file.
